Anniversaries and Lucky Numbers

I realized last night as I sat re-reading Eat, Pray, Love for the first time in ten years that my debut novel is being released almost ten years to the day that the book that changed my life was released. This seems somewhat monumental. Even more monumental is the fact that I started writing my novel seven years ago. Self doubt plagued me and I put it away many times thinking it was a waste of my time. Thank goodness I didn't give up on it! It's interesting to me that I finally published it now. This month. This year. Ten years after my life changed. Seven years after starting it.

Number seven is considered a lucky number. It's popular too. There are seven days of the week, seven colors of the rainbow, seven notes on a musical scale, seven seas and seven continents.

Snow White ran off to live with seven dwarves, there were seven brides for seven brothers, Shakespeare described the seven ages of man, Sinbad the Sailor had seven voyages. And James Bond's secret code was 007.

Multiple anniversaries are occurring for me this week. Nine months ago I found out that I was pregnant with baby number two and I was ecstatic! My husband and I were living in Hawaii at the time but we decided that if we were going to grow our family then we needed to move back to Portland to be near family again and so we immediately started making plans. Unfortunately several weeks later I lost the pregnancy (on the same day that my husband gave his notice to his boss) It was too late to change our plans to leave Hawaii and it was too late to have any more kids. I am 45 years old this year and while some people might say that 45 is the new 35 and women in their late forties can still have kids, I know that my time has come and gone.

I have absolutely nothing to complain about because I have already been blessed with the most beautiful, amazing daughter. I feel incredibly lucky every day that I get to be her mom. She is everything that I never knew I wanted! What's funny is that I never really had the desire to have kids until my late thirties but I always knew that I would have a daughter. You see, when I was a young girl a friend made a paper fortune teller and we told each other our futures with it. I was told that I would have 1 daughter. Ever after that, even though I didn't have the desire to have children, I knew I would one day have a daughter.

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As I look back on my life now I can clearly see a pattern. Through heartbreak come breakthroughs and the universe is always there, guiding us along. If I hadn't gotten a divorce in 2006 and moved to Hawaii with a broken heart, then I never would have experienced the Aloha of the islands which transformed me, inside and out. And I never would have met my soul mate and we never would have had our beautiful daughter. And if I hadn't thought I was pregnant again last year then we might not have made the move back to Portland and I might not have felt compelled to finally publish my novel. And if I hadn't finally pushed past my fears and limiting beliefs to publish my novel then I wouldn't be pursuing my dream of writing full time now. I believe that the universe has been leading me to this point for a very long time. I was just too stubborn to listen - until now.

The week before I published my novel I was near to having a panic attack, fearing for the  reaction I would get to my writing. I sat down to read A Camino of the Soul in the middle of the day one day because I had promised to read it for a friend and I just wanted to escape my fears for a while. I read straight through the book. I was so inspired by Katharine's story about listening to the universe and how she was able to follow her dreams in spite of life's setbacks and her fears that my own fears for my writing completely dissolved. I contacted Katharine on Facebook and we had an amazing and intimate conversation and instantly became friends. Once again the universe sent me what I needed to keep moving down the path I was meant to be on.

I'm getting better at listening!

We are all interconnected, a part of something bigger and we all have purpose in this life. If we pay attention the universe will guide us. There is great joy to be found in fulfilling our purpose, following our dreams, and making a difference.

I highly recommend you read Katharine's book if you want to learn more about her experience with the universe. You'll see why it's a 5 star best seller on Amazon!

What is the universe trying to tell you? What are your big anniversaries and lucky numbers?

Want to read my first novel? A five star love story set in Hawaii and based on the myth of the naupaka flower. Read the first chapter for FREE!

Click Here to Get Chapter One of Naupaka Blooming