Life! What a miracle! We happened to be born on this earth—some of us wanted and awaited by our parents, others less so. But did we want to come here? Did we know the hardships we would have to endure, and yet still choose to be born? Perhaps, from beyond the clouds, we saw that our lives would be different: full of love, happiness, and success.
Where did we lose our way? How did we wake up in the dark forest of life, surrounded by ferocious beasts, cold rains, and stinging winds? How did we stray from the magical, fabulous world we thought we would have?
We always hope that things will get better, that we will find the right path and never stray from it again. Yet somehow, we end up lost once more. That is when we realize we are alone and abandoned in a world where we feel we don't fit in, where we cannot feel "at home." We start looking for our parents, looking for ourselves, trying to find out who we truly are. And we don’t look to our biological parents, for often they are our greatest disappointment.
How often do we end up screaming in desperation: "Why? Why, God? Why me? Why my child?" And, without noticing the answer we receive, we continue to question and seek answers to our problems on our own. How often have we felt like we wanted to exit this labyrinth of life, to escape at any cost, wishing the earth would just open up and swallow us whole?
But the answer is not down in the ground; it is up above, in the sky, with God. Life is full—even for those oriented toward spirituality—of both pleasant and unpleasant things. We all lose loved ones, face difficult periods and challenges; we all suffer for various reasons. But we also all have reasons for joy and ecstasy.
Because our purpose on earth is to learn certain lessons and to evolve at a soul level, we must go through beautiful experiences as well as those that are less beautiful. Somehow, we agreed to this before we came into this world. It is as if we signed a sacred contract, setting out to achieve certain goals, to overcome situations we couldn't handle before, and to master lessons where we previously failed.
We are children all our lives. Even as adults, we feel the need for someone to help us, even if we don't admit it. You can see a serious, hardened adult start crying like a child if they remember their childhood—perhaps a kind, gentle mother who never scolded them, or a grandmother who cooked the most delicious treats with such love. In essence, we are all children. Children of our parents, but above all, children of God.
And it is not our fault if we have forgotten our Parent. Adults do this all the time these days, when existence on earth is so overwhelming, filled with unsolvable problems, pain, and suffering.
In our search for happiness, we turn our thoughts more and more often to the Universe, asking: we ask for help, for signs, for answers, for miracles. But how often are we attentive to the answer to our prayers? Perhaps sometimes we ask in despair, believing we are too insignificant for God's greatness or that our problems are too small for the Universe to respond.
In fact, the Universe speaks to us constantly, even if we don't realize it. Sure, we won't wake up to a phone call from that dream job we never even applied for, telling us we're hired. But we will receive signs of all kinds: intuitive thoughts, guiding dreams, synchronicities. These signs are repetitive, perhaps unusual; they hold personal meaning for us and coincide with our prayers and the questions we have asked the Divine.
The Universe always helps us without violating our free will. It guides and protects us; it does not dictate our lives, though sometimes it may seem that way. Some cultures are more connected to nature, to Mother Earth; they communicate easily with nature spirits and elemental beings. Shamans, for example, listen to the wind and speak with the rivers; they are connected to the entire Universe.
Life pulses in every single thing on earth: in stones, plants, trees, water, and fire. We are never isolated from the Universe; we are never alone or outside of it. Everything that is alive carries information, and we can call upon the spirit, energy, and consciousness of these things. As Plato wrote in Phaedrus, "The first prophecies were those of an oak tree."
We have all noticed how good we feel in nature, how we rush to the mountains or the sea the moment we have a few days off, precisely to recharge our energy and to calm our souls and minds.
To communicate with the Universe, we must first believe, and then observe. It always answers us, sometimes in forms we are willing to see, other times not. A feather appearing out of nowhere on our steering wheel might be, for some of us, the most beautiful sign of divine support—a confirmation that our prayers are heard. At the same time, it could be picked up and thrown out immediately by someone who doesn't understand these signs, someone burdened by worries and urgent tasks, wondering who left that trash there.
Our lives will transform in an amazing way if we pay attention to everything around us, to the answers we receive to our prayers. Through prayer, we speak to God; through meditation, we listen to His answer. There are many other ways, besides prayer and meditation, to tune into the Universe to better understand the spiritual dimension of life, to find inner peace, and to understand reality more deeply. We can use mantras, work on opening the crown chakra, practice yoga, keep a journal, engage in any form of art that attracts us, or practice empathy and compassion.
Prayers are not just pleas sent to the sky. They help us realize concretely what we want. By repeating them, we can receive answers through ideas that pop into our minds, but we also become clearer about our desires. That is why it is recommended to speak them out loud—not because our thoughts wouldn't reach the Universe otherwise, but because speaking a prayer aloud with confidence is a wonderful way to release worry, to leave the situation in God's hands to resolve according to Divine Will and Wisdom.
It is equally effective to write down our prayers. We get a clear picture of our desire, and we can even imagine or visualize the result already achieved. We increase our personal capacity for manifestation by visualizing the reality we desire as if it were already effective. Thoughts have formidable creative power.
We attract what we think—that is the most powerful law in the universe, the Law of Attraction. When we pray, the words matter least. What matters is our intention, the emotion behind the spoken words. Here is an example of a prayer that Doreen Virtue recommends we say for our children: "Heavenly Father, please give me a sign that my little ones are surrounded by love. Please convey my love to them and surround them with Your protective energy. Please give me clear and obvious clues whenever I need to help them in any way or intervene for their benefit."
Connecting through Vibration. Besides addressing prayers to heaven, we can communicate with the Universe by repeating mantras. These are sounds, words, or phrases whose repetitive recitation helps us change our state of mind, attract what we want into our lives, connect our reality to universal energy, and connect with our Higher Self to reach a state of profound consciousness.
If "in the beginning was the Word," and sound is "the first expression of creation," then OM (Aum) is considered the universal sound. The three letters represent perfection through the absolute form of their vibration when spoken together. They correspond to the three Gunas (qualities) necessary to maintain life: the letter A represents Tamas (inertia, ignorance, the destructive force, the dark side); U represents Rajas (passion, action); while M represents Sattva (essence, purity, truth, perfection, enlightenment).
We are energy; we transmit and receive energy constantly, and all forms through which energy propagates have a specific vibration. Sound is the concrete, material part of vibration. The mantra OM is the most famous mantra in the world. It connects us with everything around us, with nature, and with the entire Universe.
Once we begin to develop spiritual communication, our lives will improve considerably. If we start paying attention to signs, they will not cease to appear, and we will understand them better and better. After we open our hearts, we become more receptive. Our goal is not to hunt for signs, but to observe them. Clouds shaped like angels, hearts, or dogs; coins; feathers; rainbows; repeating number sequences; meaningful songs; dreams—all these will appear once we accept that we are always in the arms of the Heavenly Father, who wants our journey through life to be as beautiful and meaningful as possible.
Signs are so magical that missing them would be a great loss. I used to go to the cemetery very often to visit my father. Sometimes I was so rushed that I would practically run to the grave, quickly light a candle, and run back to my daily chores. Other times, I was so sad that I would sit for hours talking to him, telling him how many problems I had and how hard it was to cope. I wasn't always convinced he could hear me, but I had no one else to talk to.
So, one day, I asked him: if he could hear me, to give me a sign, to tell me somehow that he hadn't left me. It was born of desperation; I didn't really expect anything. Hopeless, I raised my eyes to the sky and saw the biggest, most beautiful cloud in the shape of a heart. Oh! What a blessing! No words, and yet so many words I needed to hear were received through that cloud! Such a weight lifted off my soul in that moment!
After that, I began to notice that every time I arrived at the cemetery, a large, beautiful butterfly would lead me from the gate to his grave. Other times, a dog would come to the grave and sit quietly beside me until I left. My father loved dogs very much.
A Message for You
Messages from the Universe always come when we ask for them; we just need to calm our minds, become more conscious of our thoughts and emotions, and of everything around us.
If you were willing right now to hear God, know that He is not far away, millions of miles from you where you cannot reach. He is right next to you and in you—in your soul and in your heart, in your every breath, in your every tear, in your every smile.
"I am always with you," He would say to you in a warm and gentle voice.
"I have never left you! I watch over you every moment, even when you sleep. Deep in your soul, you know that I am always by your side and that I hear you when you speak to me. I always give you the strength to get up when you fall; I always give you courage when the hill of life is too steep to climb; I always show you the beauty of life when it seems all the colors have vanished from your soul.
I love you so much, my child! You are never alone, and the bond between us will never break. Not even death will break the bond between us!
I know there were moments when you hated Me, but I am not angry. I understood you, and I will always understand you, regardless of the decisions you make. Some are not for your own good, but they help you evolve, to mature. You will overcome all problems when you understand that nothing is accidental.
Just as you see an object become smaller and smaller the further you move away from it, so too must you detach yourself from problems that seem insurmountable, impossible to solve. You cannot see things clearly as long as you don't have an overview of the situation. Think about what you have been through so far! How many things still seem as difficult now as they did when you were in the thick of them? You have always managed wonderfully, and you will continue to do so because you are a special being, with a unique soul, with a big and kind heart. Others don't have to see it or acknowledge it. You know I am right!
Breathe. Let go of things that do not serve you; do not waste your time and energy uselessly! Breathe, and trust that everything is and will be okay! I know it isn't easy for you, but you are not alone! I am always with you!
You may have a harder life than others, but it will become beautiful once you start to rejoice that you are alive right now on this earth. Believe Me, you are blessed!
I give you a homework assignment: find one reason every day to be grateful that you are alive. Every day, add a new reason to the list. You will see a miracle happen in your life. First of all, you will learn to smile!
You are not your tears; you are not your hardships. You are your superb smile, you are the dimples in your cheeks, you are pure emotion, you are the sweetness in your laughter, you are everything you think you cannot be—and I am with you so that you can be everything you wish.
Listen to Me! Be kind, no matter how others are to you. Do not judge! Even I do not do that! Be empathetic, be the helping hand so many people are looking for! Be the cherished image everyone carries in their soul! Be the sun for others so that you, too, can be illuminated!
If you only knew how much you can do! Just take the first step, and I will show you the way! It is worth it; every day is worth living!
You will be okay! You are okay!"
