Hello Friends,
When people are trying to sort sh*t out or waiting for sh*t to happen, they look for signs.
You know, ‘a sign’ something that indicates they are heading in the right or wrong direction.
Signs, I’ve come to realise, are very different to signals.
A signal, for example, is like an indicator that signifies someone is about to turn left.
Clearly, unlike signs, signals are up for negotiation (in a ‘blink and you might miss it’ kind of way).
Eg: Someone is about to turn left. They turn on their indicator. You start preparing your next move based around what they indicated and get ready to move ahead with the resolution in mind that they are turning left. They then change their mind and their signals don’t turn left and you crash right up their arse!
Road Rage It’s a signal and sign of so much more.
See, signals are not really like signs are they?
More often than not it’s not the misreading of signs people should worry about. It’s confusing a signal as a sign.
Why?
Signals are only an indicator of what might happen. Signs are concrete and require the council to come and rip them out. You can sue (socially) for a bad sign. Signs are public property signals are a niche market with a cult following.
Hence when there is no clear signs on the highway of life people turn to signals; only to wind up finding out they have to take an exit, or that the highway they chose to be on that was meant to be going for a couple of more miles, is actually a dead end. (joy)
Misreading the signs or signals is something most humans really seem to take to heart with embarrassment generally being the underlying reaction. We somehow beat ourselves up with the idea that we were foolish in believing a signal or sign meant a certain thing and that we intrinsically got it all wrong. No-one likes feeling they believed in something that wasn’t true. Hence I’m still outraged by the line from the movie Love Story. “Being in love means you never have to say you’re sorry”.
I guess it’s because you felt like something good was going to happen and all the answers seemed to be pointing in a new direction. Or you were happy not going in that direction until you read a sign presented by someone else and decided to drive up for a little taste test. Or you are just so unhappy or anxious with the position you are in at that present point, that you desperately need something, anything to indicate, dictate, resonate (and any other ‘ate’ style word) that everything is going to be okay.
There are so many people I know who have broken up with someone, and constantly see their cars everywhere on the road and ask me if it’s a sign.
I asked my mates at breakfast the other morning if they had ever experienced this and all of them piped up.
“When I had a crush on (insert name), Red Mini Coopers.”
“Broke up with Edward. Black SUVs everywhere. Is this a sign?”
Yes, that’s it’s a popular model….
Also, it shows how much we can all manifest our own realities. When you want to see something and you put all your energy into it, it will literally start driving up alongside you in a myriad of illusions.
When it comes to signs they are meant to help you along the way. Some will be small and harder to read, others will be largely mapped out for you and flashing furiously.All you have to do to realise the signs the universe is giving you, is open yourself up enough to read them and understand only you can see them.
Your life is yours, so the only signage that could apply with accurate directions is that which dictates your path - not someone else’s.
Therefore, when we feel like we are waiting for something we want, many of us (instead of going inward and focussing on what we want, why we want it, and how we will get it), start looking at other people’s roads and reading their maps, thinking their signals and signs will confirm our greatest desires.
And make us feel more secure…
From the little I’ve learnt while waiting for things, a sign that makes you feel fearful isn’t a sign. It’s a signal that your fear is filtering the way you read things!
So this is my advice for signs and signals.
The right signs will make you feel peaceful and are only obvious to you. The wrong sign is when you ask someone else for directions and end up horribly lost.
Maybe the reason so many people smoke is because they are secretly thinking if they light up the bus of life will come quickly and they’ll be able to jump on board.
Email me, Emma-Kate Dobbin
editor@tootstar.com
