Signposts

A long time ago I learned to follow up on anything that seems to come out of left field.

I do not think much in life is coincidence. Things tend to turn up when they are meant to, like small signposts at the side of the road. You will know the old saying: when the student is ready, the teacher appears.

I took the word signposts from a terrific book, The Unmistakable Touch of Grace by Cheryl Richardson. You might call the same feeling intuition, or a gut instinct, or that little voice. It goes by plenty of names. What matters is what you do when it shows up.

One small note

Years ago I wrote something I was not at all sure about. Some pieces feel right as they go out and some do not, and that one did not. Then a handful of people wrote to thank me for it.

One of the notes was a single line. I still could not tell you why, but it stuck out from all the rest.

So I followed it. I assumed it had reached me for a reason, and I went to find out where it had come from. It led me to someone who was a real help at a time when I needed it most. If I had read that line, smiled and moved on, I would have missed it.

I have had to learn that lesson more than once. Signposts are very easy to ignore.

What to do with one

My only advice is this. When one of those feelings turns up, do not sweep it away. Live with it for a few minutes.

It may come to nothing. It may be a chance to learn something new, or to go down a road you had never thought of taking. You will not know which until you have given it a little room.

After 50 there is often more room for a detour than there used to be, and fewer people waiting on you to get home.

So take a little detour this month. Listen to the little voice, and see where it goes.

From the archive. First written for my journal years ago, and rewritten for life after 50.