Call it fate, call it a higher power, but be grateful that it can get people out of such awful situations. These lucky few desperately needed a sign for what to do next, and they immediately got one. It seems too good to be true, but miracles can in fact happen. Content has been edited for clarity.
Love At First Bike
“I asked the universe for a sign of love or someone to love. I was riding my bike the first sunny day of last month. I loved bike rides, especially feeling the wind in my hair and honestly feeling like I’m on top of the world. Love for me has always been taboo and I honestly was starting to not believe in it. The sun hit my face just right, and I closed my eyes and made the wish for a sign of actual love. The best mistake of my life was closing my eyes while riding my bike. As I opened my eyes very shortly after, I ran into this very pretty girl riding her bike. We both flew off and hit the grass as soon as it happened. We both looked at each other and just stared. A good five seconds passed before she grimaced. Her ankle looked broken, but I wasn’t sure. I ended up calling the ambulance and ended up talking with her while waiting for the ambulance, finding out we had a lot in common. The ambulance came, and she gave me her number as well as her father’s. I called up her dad and he came and picked me up with the bikes. I was dropped off home and I hit her up, asking for the verdict on her ankle. it was dislocated with possible ligament issues, so she has to wear a boot for a while. Well, cutting to the chase, we ended up dating after it all, and honestly, it was the happiest and seemingly the healthiest relationship I’ve ever been in. I’ve always thought my life was some Lifetime movie.”
Not Just Any Old Painting
“I was living and working alone in Buenos Aires for a while. My mum had travelled to come and visit me for a couple of weeks and we had the most amazing time. When she left it was probably the saddest I’ve ever felt. I was suddenly alone again in this big city, feeling so homesick and low. I’ve always had a deep deep love for Frida Kahlo. I’s my dream to see a full exhibition of hers. I adore one of her quotes in particular. ‘Podemos aguantar mucho más de lo que pensamos que podemos,’ (We can endure much more than what we think we can), and I used this quote to remind myself everything will be okay.
Anyway, so here I was, sad and alone in a big city looking for any reason not to get on a plane and head straight home and give it all up. One day I’m thinking of this Frida quote and wander into an art museum that I hadn’t visited before, in order to take my mind off how low I was feeling. I walk inside and what do I see right in the middle of the art gallery wall? A real-life Frida Kahlo painting. I spent hours there, just crying it all out and not even caring about all the people staring at me. I stayed in Buenos Aires and had the most amazing time of my life after that that, which I never would have had if I’d just gone home. Gracias, Frida.”
She’ll Always Be Watching Over Them
“My Oma, my mother’s mom, was the most wonderful lady you could imagine. And what was amazing was how wonderful she was coming from a childhood surviving WWII in the rural German countryside. This included foraging the forests for edible tubers, helping hide her family under the floorboards of their house to avoid both German and Russian death gangs, and watching her father be killed in front of her by a Nazi doctor on Christmas eve. Her father was a doctor who didn’t support the Nazi party and happened to have a heart murmur. The doctor used a checkup as an opportunity to murder my great grandfather. I think my Oma was 10 at the time. She saw and lived through horror and food insecurity that most people can’t comprehend. Yet, still she managed to come out the other side without that horror darkening her outlook and capacity for love. Instead, I think it made her even more focused on bringing light and hope into her life and her family’s lives. My Oma had this thing for picking up pennies. Didn’t matter what side it was on, all pennies were lucky. She’d say the same thing whenever she’d pick up a penny, ‘Finding a penny is always lucky, someone’s looking out for you because it’s one penny that you didn’t have before.’
My Oma was diagnosed with cancer when back in the 90s, when cancer therapies were definitely not as good as they are now. She went through a remission before the cancer came back and she sadly died. It was devastating on everyone in the family. She was such a loving family matriarch and was such an inspiration for having a huge capacity for hope and love in the face of sadness and darkness.
From then on, an interesting thing happens to people in the family. Whenever someone is going through a very tough time in their life, they start to find pennies everywhere. Like a noticeable amount. If you think about it, you could go weeks without finding a penny on the ground. But when any of us would be consumed with sadness or hopelessness, we’d start finding pennies on the ground every day. Even multiple pennies a day. And even more interesting, the pennies would most often be really shiny. And then when someone starts to feel better and regain hope and confidence, the instance of finding pennies would start to decrease and go away.
This has happened to everyone in our immediate family, even multiple times for some people. I’m not religious at all, but this really defies explanation, and now I just go with it, you know? Like myself and the family see this penny phenomena as a sign from Oma that things will get better. And for every penny we find, it’s a physical reminder that she’s there with us, supporting us and imbibing us with her own perseverance, hope, and love.
And what’s cute is that when the pennies start coming in, we keep a little pile of them, and people in the family have these little mason jars of ‘Oma pennies’ to represent tough times in their lives that they got through. It’s quite literally a physical sign from the universe-loved one to just let you know that everything is going to be okay.”
Their Love Was Meant To Be
“I had a deep fear of commitment and major abandonment issues. I started having feelings for my best friend of many years, and things got physical, but I was too afraid to pursue something more. I live in London, and he lives in Athens. One day, he calls me saying he got a letter that he has to be presented for his army training (in Greece, army training is nine months and is mandatory for all men, but if you are in university you can postpone it. He had forgotten to send his university’s proof of studying). I freaked out over the thought of me losing him forever, but I was too afraid to do anything. Before I went to sleep, I said that if he manages to postpone it, I will tell him how I feel and try to put my fears aside. Not just with him, but in my life in general.
The very next morning, he calls me to tell me he did it, he postponed his training. I blurted out that I was in love with him. He booked tickets the same day to come to London. We just had our 2-year anniversary and I’ve been happier than ever, and feel much better in most aspects of my life (with his help and support). I don’t know if it was exactly a sign, but it sure felt like it.”
“The Calmest i Have Ever Been In My Life”
“Back when I was 7 years old, my dad suffered a debilitating stroke. He went from being a well-spoken and locally famous attorney to a recluse who couldn’t talk well and had trouble walking. I would come to learn later that he battled suicidal thoughts during the first year of his recovery. Anyways, growing up I could never do fun physical activities with my dad and started to forget some of my memories of him being active. On all of our home movies, he was the one recording, so I couldn’t really watch him be himself there. But there was this one video, where my dad and uncle singing an acoustic country song. I used to watch it all the time. My dad was happy and singing and laughing and dancing. Things he never was anymore. I loved that video. It helped me get through some times of heavy self-pity.
Fast-forward 20 years. I am about to go under the knife for a fairly minor surgery, but I need to be awake and have declined all pain management, as I cannot take any of those types of medication. They told me how important it was to stay calm, but I was nervous. As I was wheeled in to the OR, I prayed and asked the universe for help, or whatever you want to call it. They get me on the table and on cue, the surgeons small radio starts up with that exact country song. A song I have never, ever heard on the radio. I was so shocked that I forgot everything, tears just streamed down my face, and by the time the song was over, I was calmest I have ever been in my life. Even writing about it now makes me tear up.”
Dreams Really Do Come True
“About a year ago, I was without a steady job and tackling work as a background actor. Finding work can be inconsistent, and as a non-union actor, the pay isn’t top-tier. It was fine, as acting is really the career I want to be in, but what wasn’t fine was the instability. I only had so much money for my bills and expenditures, constantly on the brink of being broke, had credit card debt, and all that financial misery. Before that, I was working in manufacturing warehouses, which was steady and simple. However, it was absolutely miserable work to me. Tedious handiwork, constant standing and lifting of heavy things, being scrutinized every day even when doing above-and-beyond, and absolutely no free time. I’d left that work behind when I chose to finally take up acting, but the financial hardship was starting to drive me back to the stability of full-time jobs begrudgingly.
I had one job lined up as a warehouse employee again and was finishing up a call with a representative to start the onboarding process. All that time while I was on the phone, I was just thinking about the monotony of this line of work, and the fact that if I took the job, I’d turn my back on what I really wanted to do, and could possibly be stuck in a dead-end job. It got me thinking to myself about the good times I’d had working on different sets, going to far-out areas I’d never been to, and the happiness I got from jobs I actually enjoyed. When I came out of it, I thought to myself, ‘You know what, I’ll take the job if I have to, but if I get a call for even just one background job, I’m just gonna stick out the waiting.’
Not even 10 minutes later, I got a call for not one, but multiple day jobs. Enough to not only keep me stable, but get me above the debts I was getting in. So I declined the warehouse job, stuck with acting, worked at it with a more determined mindset, and by the end of the year I was able to join a union with no more debt and more stability than where I was at the year before.”
How Did He Get Inside?
“In 2016, I was planning a move to L.A. at the end of my lease at a townhouse in Ohio. The lease was set to end on August 31. As I began networking with people in California, I started to get very weird vibes about moving. Some were suggesting I shouldn’t at all due to the high costs, while others were encouraging it but maybe didn’t have judgment that I trusted. Other things were contributing, but I was feeling very strange about it – hard to explain. It just didn’t quite feel right. During my last week at the rental, I asked the universe to send a definite sign on whether or not I should go.
On August 27, I completely cleared out my car so I could begin moving boxes to my parents’ house, who lived about 40 miles north. That night around 2 a.m., I was packing in the living room, when suddenly I heard my car start up outside. It had a very distinctive start-up sound, so I knew it was mine. I ran to the front door and opened it just in time to see my car finish backing out and driving away. The car was found a few days later totaled in the city. It was never clear how the thief started the vehicle, since I still had the keys and no wiring had been messed with. It was surmised by police that he’d had a skeleton key for that make and model (perhaps it was the teenage son of an auto dealer or something). Anyway, I got a full insurance payout on the vehicle. Other damage to my things were minimal, as the car had been completely cleared out for moving. While the event itself was very frustrating and even a little traumatic, to me that felt clear as day to be a sign that I wasn’t supposed to go to L.A. I have regrets in my life, but staying in town has never been one of them.”
Music Festival Madness
I’m not superstitious at all, but my uncle is. When my Nan passed, he went to see a fortune-teller, who told him that anytime our family sees white feathers around, that’s Nan’s way of showing us that she’s there. I thought it was a load of nonsense and forgot about it.
A few years later I was at a music festival. Everything was coated in dirt and dust was being churned up by thousands of peoples’ feet. Even the air was so thick with dust, it was making it hard to see and breathe. I was on the edges of the mosh pit when I started to have my first panic attack. I’d never had one before, didn’t know what was happening to me, and I was terrified. I felt like I was being crushed, but like I was the only person in the world at the same time. I remember desperately thinking ‘I don’t want to be alone, I don’t want to be here alone.’
I crouched down in the middle of the dirty, dusty crowd and when I opened my eyes, there was a single white feather on the ground right between my feet. It was perfectly white, no dirt, not stepped on or anything, even in a mosh pit. I stared at the feather until I could get my breathing under control and get out of there, and I still have that feather.”
Riding The Same Wavelength
“I had asked the universe for a sign of good and friendly people really existing out in this world. I know, it’s kinda stupid but I have struggled with making friends that weren’t toxic, and I felt like I just wasn’t destined to have great friends. About two days after I had asked for a sign, I went to my local park to do my daily routine of sitting down, smoking, and reading, and for some strange reason, a pair of strangers came up to me and introduced themselves. We ended up talking with each other for what felt like hours and eventually, I had asked them why they came up to me. The guy said, ‘Oh, we made a deal to see if we could make any new friends and we did. You’re a new friend!’
After, we all walked and got some cookies and ice cream and chilled again, by the river this time. They both are now my closest friends, and it all started because I was at the right place and the right time for them to come up to me. I strongly believe that it was the universe’s doing and am so grateful for it.
I changed my thoughts and my feelings about myself and those around me. I began to become a happier version of myself and thought of myself as a fun and happy person. I also began to feel the emotions of gratitude and happiness, and I would thank the universe for all the good things in my life. Remember your thoughts and feelings are what create your future, and the universe knows nothing more but to attract to you what you attract to it!
My friends had wanted to make new friends for a while, they had actually made a deal that they would go up and try to make friends. it just happened to be that I was the first person they met and ended up being the person they had hoped to meet! I guess all I can say is just have belief and faith in the universe, don’t worry about how you will make the friends you want, just believe that you already have them in your life and they will come. By asking for a sign, your almost daring the universe to show that it is really looking out for you and the universe will always respond, just in a way that you won’t expect!”
Unexpected Ambulance Twist
“I was in a bad time of my life. I grew up quite naive and especially sheltered. So when my first boyfriend broke up with me, it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. He was my first boyfriend and I took it VERY seriously, so this breakup made it one thousand times worse for me. I already had depression, but this knocked me onto dangerous territory. I wasn’t sleeping and lost 20 pounds because I wouldn’t eat. I felt sickly, weak, and just didn’t wanna be here anymore. I felt like no one cared, I just wanted someone to hold me and tell me that I would be okay.
I like to drive and blast my music when I’m upset to unwind, so I started to drive on the highway. A few minutes before I thought about driving my car off the highway into the lining of trees, I looked in my rearview mirror and saw an ambulance driving behind me. I had never seen an ambulance on the highway that didn’t have its signal going and immediately broke down and cried. The ambulance was just cruising behind me. I took that as a sign that the universe did care, and that I was significant. So I drove home to my mother and told her I needed help. I was taken to the hospital, put on medication, and went to therapy for my underlying issues and depression. A year and a half later, I am off medication, no longer needing therapy, and currently thriving! That ambulance truly saved me that day.”
Definitely Time To Go
“I was 18 years old, recently graduated from high school, and basically was being forced to attend cosmetology school by my stepmom, while also working a full time job. I was exhausted all the time. My stepmom and I were very religious for a long time, but I was starting to question my faith and stopped making church a priority. This caused a lot of drama (and I think resentment) from her and my father, who worked out of the country.
While attending cosmetology school, I had made friends and was so starved for any sort of friendship and I would tell them the things I hated about my home life. They helped me start to see how toxic my parents and situation were. I knew I had to move out. I tried to do so amicably, but to no avail. In fact, my attempts to leave peacefully backfired and caused more problems. At the time, being religious, I prayed for a way out. But my prayers rarely were answered, so I grew hopeless. A few weeks later, after a rough few days between me and my stepmom, things came to a head one night and she called my father.
They had threatened for years to kick me out. I was a seriously well-behaved kid, so I was always the one to apologize for whatever they thought I did that was so horrible. This particular night when the threat entered the air, I saw it as a sign and a fleeting opportunity. I packed my things and was gone the next day.
It’s been 4 years and I am now living in a different state with my husband and daughter, and our second child is due to be born in about a month.”
Never Alone
“One day, I was at my schools robotics team building session after school. There was this freshman, who I didn’t know prior to this event, and who I will call ‘X’ from here on. He is sitting on the stairs talking with someone on the phone. I only walked by, but I could tell that X was getting very emotional and frustrated with the person on the phone, to the point tears were coming down their face. I continue on my way to go and grab my computer, which was in a room down the hall from the stairs, and when I returned X was just sitting there. I asked X if they were okay and if they needed someone to talk to. X said no, and went away to the workshop area where the robot was. Later one of the teachers, who runs the program, needed a couple of people to brainstorm and design some of the different functions of the robot. X, a couple of my friends, and I volunteer. We go to this room, and we all start talking, all of us except for X. My friends go out of the room to grab some supplies to start modeling our designs, and in their absences I once again ask X if they are okay. After a couple of seconds, X says no, and they start talking about how their stepfather is abusive, and how their mom doesn’t do anything to stop it. Once they were done talking, and after us just talking about life, I give X my number, so that if they ever need to talk to someone without judgement, they could confide in me. I usually never do this, and at the time I found it was weird that I was doing so. After my friends return and we do a bit of designing, I had to leave and go to a soccer practice, as I had soccer practice and robotics meetings on the same night
After a mostly boring practice, I returned home and grabbed my phone and turned it on to see that I had just received a message from X. I open the message and it says, ‘I’m going to kill myself.’
At this point I freak out and show my parents. I had basically just met X and they were telling me this?! My parents called 911, as I start messaging X trying to figure out where they were, and if they were with anyone. After getting the police and ambulance to their house, X was taken to the hospital and was being treated (the dispatcher called us back to tell us all of this). The next day, I went to school and I found out that X had tried to overdose on prescription medications. X had already taken the pills when EMS arrived. This whole series of events made me think of how the universe helped me save a life. I didn’t know X, I hadn’t had a conversation with them before, and I never asked to be a part of this, but I was.
Besides a couple of lung issues that are treatable, X is doing good. We talk just about every day now, and we have become good friends. If you are ever in need of help, no matter how serious, there will always be someone for you to talk to, you don’t need to fight your battles alone.”