Wednesday 4th April 2019:
I was sitting alone in a restaurant for lunch today in Beijing. A class I had scheduled was cancelled last minute and I had a few hours to kill. It was a German restaurant I’d been to once before, Bavarian as could be. Beijing-Bavarian, I know, what a world we live in. I had just earned my ticket as ‘awkward vegetarian diner of the day’ by going for the only two side dishes which were available to me. Much to the distaste of the busy waitress, who rushed off her feet, probably had more profitable regulars to attend to that day.
So life goes…
I sat there patiently waiting for my order to come out, in the grey zone of nothing to do and no where to be. In millienial fashion, I pulled out my phone and started to read the first post which caught my eye, not much different to a magpie swooping down on the first glint which catches its eye. The target happened to be a short piece of writing, it was enough to distract my grumbling stomach for the time being. I didn’t really care what it was or even what it was about. Just that it was there and passed the in-between. It really could have been anything.
‘Signs…’ , it read.
It made me think for a second, catching my thumb before the next scroll down. The post gave an example of recurring numbers that appear around her but it could be a symbol, a representation, an image, any association to another thing, metaphorical or physical. ‘I haven’t had any signs in ages’ I thought to myself. The food came out. Phone slipped back into my pocket. Distraction done. Success. The mammal in me, soon allowed the thought of signs to slip into the back cloud of my mind.
Potatoes, always come first.
It’s lunchtime in Beijing and the restaurant starts to fill around me. A Chinese couple arrive and sit at the table just in front of mine. It’s spring and the girl, sitting with her back to me slides off her denim jacket and hangs it on the back of the chair. They’re much better customers so they quickly disperse to take their pick at the lunchtime buffet. Returning with a mound of food, natural to that of free reign and a hungry stomach at midday. That’s all I care to notice for now.
But then I see: ‘Rue du Temple, Paris, 75004, France’
The girl is wearing a white t-shirt and on the back, printed in black bolded text is the address of my father. Not the city. Not just the country. But the very same road, zip code, everything. It was the same place that he lived at my age, in Paris, during the 1980’s. I couldn’t quite believe it, my stomach fell and it wasn’t because of my lunch. I got butterflies but I hadn’t eaten any. He had told me about this road and so many of the stories he’d had with my mother there, in a small apartment they shared.
It was a sign.
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When I think back to this day, I’m firstly amazed at how fast it all happened. My class didn’t have to be cancelled that day. I didn’t have to choose that restaurant. At that time. Or that table. I didn’t have to pull out my phone. I didn’t have to read that post. But I did. And ever since I’ve been noticing more of these signs around me. Perhaps not because there are literally more happening, but because I’m more conscious of my surroundings and how they present themselves to me. I’m struck by magic I felt in that moment. The one that caught me off guard and manifested to connect so many worlds of mine in a single moment. From China and London to India and Paris.
Everything was one.
I decided it was one thing to notice signs as they happen but another thing to take action on them. Of course, I rang my parents to tell them what happenned and I didn’t hesitate to tell the girl who wearing the t-shirt either. Perhaps I’ll try visit this road one day, sooner rather than later. I’m not sure what I’ll find there, it might just be the satisfaction that I followed the sign I found sitting in that restaurant one day, on the other side of the world. The one that provoked a higher sensitivity to observation and action according to what was happening in my life thereafter.
You too can:
a) Ignore signs
b) Take note of signs
c) Take action on signs
Let me give you a snapshot of one more example:
- I read a incredible book and think of my best friend who might like it too
- The next chapter I discover the main character and her share the same birthday (sign!!)
- I send the book via Amazon to get to her the day before she goes to India with her cousin
- I discover the same cousin had bought her the book years ago but she never read it all
- She takes it to India today and the right information ends up finding her at the right time
What did I learn? The universe is creating miracles every moment of every day. It doesn’t speak English or French, Hindi or Mandarin but it does speak in its own language of signs. If only we take the time to learn its letters and notice the connections that happen around us. We can communicate back with action and start a conversation. To notice more is to attract more. Of this magic called life and its signs.
Lessons Learnt Daily 