Have you ever felt the universe directly and literally talking to you? Yesterday, it happened to me; not once, but several times, as if something was gently nudging me in the same direction.

A month ago, after an incident at work, I started contemplating the idea of leaving my job and dedicating my time to a journalling experiment I started last year (more about that later).

The idea excited me. I felt my inner world expand every time I imagined leaving the office and its drama behind. A refreshing sense of freedom filled my heart when I visualised what my days would look like. I was ready to take that leap of faith right away.

But making a decision based on feelings alone isn’t wise. So I decided to wait and weigh up the advantages and disadvantages.

After four weeks of consideration, my emotions took a steadier form. I decided to work fewer hours.

Universe says, “Create your own path”

The next day, I got into the office lift wondering whether I should tell my team leader today or postpone it. On one of the lift’s walls there’s a screen that plays a promotional video about the company, created to keep you “company” until you reach your floor — pun intended.

We almost never pay attention to the video, but yesterday it stood out: “Create your own path.”

I had no idea the video contained this sentence, and I have no clue what the context was, but it was the only thing I heard in that moment.

I smiled, looked at myself in the mirror and said, “OK, heard loud and clear!”

Universe says, “1st of May”

At my desk, I joined a weekly meeting about updates in Transpacific trade. Like many of these meetings, where dozens of people tune in to hear one person in Switzerland lay out some details, it gets boring. So I started writing notes to prepare what I would say to my team leader.

The moment I thought to myself, When would be the best date to start working shorter hours? the guy on the screen said a date: 1st of May.

I looked up at the screen, eyes wide open. That cannot be a coincidence, I thought. I smiled and wrote it down.

The meeting with my team leader was tense. She didn’t like my decision, but she couldn’t object to it – mainly because the German law allows employees to change their working hours if there’s no clear operational impact.

Universe says, “Time to expand”

It was then time for lunch, and I met Rui and Veronica, two of my favourite colleagues who work in a different department. We talked about the company, how it had recently laid off people, and why the employee council believes it’s not justified.

Rui said something that resonated with me: “These times are great opportunities to expand.” He talked about how he had started teaching himself skills that were now missing in his team due to the layoffs. We had no layoffs in our team, so for me it meant expanding externally, growing in any shape or form.

Then came the last synchronicity, and for me, the most heartwarming.

Universe says, “I’ve got you”

While still in the cafeteria, I saw my team leader heading towards the door after lunch, carrying four KitKats. I thought maybe she was feeling generous and got chocolates for everyone. I smiled at her as she walked out, and she smiled back.

As I said goodbye to Rui and Veronica, ready to go back to my desk, Veronica pulled two chocolate bars from her bag. She had recently been on holiday in Belgium and got each one of us a bar. Mine was milk chocolate with salty popcorn.

Back on the fifth floor, I prepared a cup of coffee and started enjoying the chocolate while working. Then I remembered the KitKats. I looked at my colleagues’ desks – she had left one on each desk in our room. Everyone had one except me.

I laughed quietly to myself. It felt like it was her subtle way of expressing dissatisfaction with my decision.

Then I looked at my Belgian chocolate, smiled and said, “Thank you, God, for taking care of me even before I knew I needed it.”

And in that moment I realised: sometimes the universe doesn’t remove what we lose, it quietly replaces it with something better before we even notice.

❤️