“Show me a sign,” I say to the universe. (We all love to do that, right?) “Show me a sign that this is the right path for me.”

But then when the universe does send us the signs, we ignore them unless they point in the direction that we want them to.

I’ve ignored the universe more times than I can count. I’ve put my blinders on and sped right past the signs pointing me in another direction. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that things always turn out the way they’re supposed to. The universe is trying to help us and guide us on our journey — and we should let it.

Let go of relationships that aren’t right for you

There are plenty of relationship examples I could give of the universe dumping buckets of red flags at me, begging me to run in the opposite direction, but I’ll cite one of the most recent examples.

I dated a guy for six months who was entirely uninterested in commitment and entirely incapable of communicating that to me.

I remember asking the universe, or god, or whatever if this was the guy for me. The universe gave me my answer, but I ignored the signs because I so desperately wanted this guy to be the guy. I was tired of the dating game and I just wanted things to work out.

About seventy percent of the time, my text messages would not send to him. Like, my phone just refused to send the messages. I’d try a few times, and it would just be like, nope, sorry. It never happened with any of my other contacts in my phone.

Looking back on it now, I know it was one of the many ways the universe was trying to tell me to move on. Because I hadn’t listened to the other signs — like the fact that he blew me off on one of our dates, exhibited some toxic behaviors, and was not secure or confident in his masculinity — the universe tried to get my attention in another way.

I wish I had listened sooner — I would have saved myself a lot of strife and mental anguish.

Be open to altering your life plans

As a non-romantic example, I’ve been trying to move halfway across the world for several years now. But the circumstances in my life never felt quite right.

I’m all about things having to feel right before you make a decision or take an action. Following your gut and going with your instincts is important.

This year, things in my life finally lined up so that I could make this big move — or so I thought. I was getting ready to pull the trigger, and I was just three months away from my projected move-out date.

But the universe had other ideas.

Important events began to pile up: One of my best friends set the date for her wedding, my job scheduled a large conference in which I’d play a big role, and my family planned a trip (we haven’t seen each other since the pandemic started).

But, I didn’t want to push back my move date. This move, this new life I’d been dreaming of for years, was finally almost within my grasp. And I didn’t want to let it go.

This was the universe’s way of telling me to let go of my timeline and go with the flow. My big move is still happening — just a lot later than I’d like. But now that I’ve let go and accepted that the universe has other plans for me, I get to enjoy a few extra months living close to my family and friends. And that’s nothing to scoff at.

Ask for a sign, you’re getting a sign

“Ask and you shall receive” sums up my experience with the universe. Ask the universe for what you want, and you’ll get it. If it’s a new job, a new life in a new place, a partner — whatever. You might not get it on your timeline and it might not look how you expect it to look. But you’ll get it.

The same thing goes for when you ask the universe for answers or for a sign that you’re on the right path — you’ll get one. You have to listen and watch for it with an open mind — and be prepared for an answer that you don’t want to hear.

The pain of past failed relationships weighed me down because I held doggedly onto what I wanted, when the universe was telling me and showing me in every possible way that the person I was with was not the person for me. I caused my own pain by hanging on too long to something that wasn’t right for me.

The stress and anxiety I’ve felt over making life-altering decisions was because I knew in my heart the right answer and the right path forward, but I didn’t want to let go of my original plan. Or, I didn’t want to admit to myself that the right path was so drastically different from what I had thought I wanted.

Plans change. People change.

Trust your gut, trust the signs, and flow in the direction that the universe is showing you.