I used to know a guy whose Facebook posts often included messages he received from the universe. They were powerful things. Sometimes the universe would be playful, telling him about the magic of smiles, the joy of laughter, the importance of not taking things too seriously. Other times, the messages were instructive, sharing advice on how to resolve a potential conflict or convey an uncomfortable truth without causing pain.

What always struck me about those posts is that none of them felt contrived. This wasn’t a guy trying to showcase his wisdom by posting platitudes. This was a man intentionally listening to what the universe was saying and sharing it with anyone else inclined to listen too.

Asking gently

When you boil down all the complexity, I think that’s all the universe is ever asking us to do: pay attention. It whispers to us in a thousand ways—through dreams and meditations, in songs and poems, in earnest conversation shared between close friends and in off-the-cuff remarks from strangers at the grocery store, in the rustle of the wind through leaves and the lapping of the ocean’s waves, in the silence of a snowstorm and the drumbeat of the rain, in wisdom we find buried in books and magazines, in innocuous comments from our kids or parents, in the soaring of our hearts when we dance without care, and even amid the pain of wrenching loss.

The thing is, unless we intentionally sit down to listen, a lot of the universe’s messages tend to come at us sideways—which makes them easy to miss. When we’re busy distracting ourselves with the minutiae of life, the noise of the world tends to fill our senses and we have no time to hear the whispers. For some messages the universe is trying to share, that’s not a problem. Perhaps the message isn’t pressing, or it’s simply reinforcing a truth we already know, so the universe is willing to give us a “pass”.

Other messages, however, can’t be so safely overlooked. When the universe is trying to share something imperative with us—a truth we’ve long ignored, a nagging question that keeps recurring, a lesson we desperately need to learn—it’s not going to give up. If it can’t attract our attention by speaking quietly, it’s going to raise its voice.

Hey, you! Ya—you!

As far as I can tell, the universe subscribes to that old proverb: speak softly and carry a big stick. The soft messages can be lovely. The stick, however? Not so much. Generally, when the universe gets serious about making you notice, it loses much of its subtlety.

You decided you were going to keep your appointment even though you’re not feeling well? Okay, here’s the flu. Flu not enough for you? Okay, here’s some pneumonia. Still not ready to slow down? Okay, how about an allergic reaction to your meds?

In a constant rush to get somewhere important? Okay, here’s a driving ticket. Or the loss of some demerit points. Or how about a car accident?

In a relationship you know you should leave, but you can’t find your way out? Don’t worry, the universe would be happy to “help”. Maybe it will throw you an extra-marital affair, a caustic fight about money, dissension with your kids, the deterioration of your self-esteem.

There really is no end to the universe’s creativity. Only one thing is certain. For every sign that you ignore, the next one is bound be harsher.

Strategies for paying attention

Not everyone will agree with me, but I believe that we’re responsible for much of the negativity we attract into our lives by failing to address issues when they’re still small. To avoid a descent down that slippery slope, it behooves us all to adopt some strategies for paying attention to the universe’s messages. While each of us needs to figure out strategies that most resonate with our nature, here are some that work for me:

  • Create a forum for response. If you’re looking for guidance around a particular issue, it can be helpful to earnestly ask the universe for an answer—and then dedicate a forum for receiving it. Perhaps you can meditate on the issue, and then sit quietly each day waiting to hear what the universe has to say. Perhaps you can imprint the question in your mind before sleep, and see if your dreams begin to provide some answers. Sometimes I’ll simply keep the question in my mind as I go about my day, and look for signs of a response—which often show up in a book I’m reading or the lyrics of a song.
  • Listen to your ‘earwigs’. You know when you’ve got a song stuck in your head? One of my girlfriends calls those ‘earwigs’. Although not every earwig will be relevant, sometimes those lyrics repeat because there’s a message in there for you. See if that’s true before banishing them.
  • Look for patterns. I remember when my daughter first learned about the Fibonacci sequence in her math class. Although I’m not the one you want explaining a scientific concept to you, from what I understand, when you transpose Fibonacci’s mathematical sequence to nature, you begin to find a surprising number of recurrences. The “spiral” that results from the Fibonacci sequence apparently shows up in everything from the distribution of sunflower seeds to flower petals, pinecones, shells, and even hurricanes. (If you’re interested, you can learn more here). While my daughter may argue with my interpretation, I think this is patent evidence that the universe communicates in patterns. So look for them. For instance, when a recurring theme turns up in my conversations over the course of several days, I tend to take that as a sign to pay closer attention to the content of that theme.

Needless to say, there are tons of other strategies you can adopt—from reading answers in the clouds or stars to looking for meaning in random encounters or strange experiences. If you have strategies for listening to the messages of the universe, share them here! Take this as a sign that wisdom comes from everywhere and the deepest learnings are shared.