The Universe Has Your Back. Always.

I had a stomach ache 5 out of 7 days last week. My body was talkin’ to me.

I knew my stomach wasn’t upset because I was eating poorly. It was upset because I was anxious about planning our wedding at the same time as starting a brand new role at work.

Initially Matt and I thought we wanted a long engagement. But as we talked about it more, we realized we wanted to get married sooner than later. Next spring, to be exact.

I’m so excited to be marrying Matt soon, but my body has been freaking out over the whole planning aspect of it. No matter how much of a “positive mindset” I tried to have about it.

Let planning be fun.

It’ll all work out!

You’ll get a wedding planner to help you!

Don’t stress.

I’ve repeated these things to myself. I’ve talked it out with Matt, my friends, my mom. Everyone has reassured me it’ll be wonderful and everything will work out fine. Don’t worry!

No matter what I did, I couldn’t shake the overwhelming sense of urgency looming over me.

Planning things, especially under a time crunch, makes me anxious and edgy. And as much as I’ve wanted to feel relaxed and at ease; no amount of meditation or words of encouragement has helped me actually feel that way.

I’ve been harboring some guilt over it, too. I’m so thankful to be getting these things that I’ve always wanted, yet I’m too anxious to even appreciate it.

It’s no wonder my stomach has been so upset. I’ve been caught in a tornado of emotions.

Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff (But We Do Anyway)

I also want to quickly address how absurd this is. At the end of the day, I’m lucky these are the “obstacles” I’m facing. It’s ridiculous! These aren’t even problems. They’re things I’m deciding are stressful.

Real issues would be like losing someone you love or having a major health scare or being devastated by a natural disaster. I actually wrote a blog post about this a couple months ago called Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.

But, big or small, I write about this because I know others can relate. We’re human. Whether we should or shouldn’t, we still get hung up on things that aren’t life or death situations.

You may not be planning a wedding, but maybe you’re getting hung up on remodeling your home or throwing your kid’s graduation party or putting together a family reunion. My hope is that you’ll apply my learnings from the next section into your own life.

When It’s Meant to Be, It’ll Be

So, on Thursday evening, I was pretty much brain dead after a crazy week at work. I’d averaged like 6 hours of sleep per night and had been fighting a stomach ache daily. I collapsed onto the couch and mindlessly started looking at bridal boutiques on Instagram.

Four years ago, before I met Matt, I fell in love with this wedding gown I saw on Pinterest. It was so unique and beautiful. The dress was never linked to a website, though, so I had no idea who made it. It wasn’t even a thought in my mind to find it because I figured it didn’t exist so many years later.

As I clicked through the Instagram accounts of various bridal boutiques, I scanned for any wedding gowns that had a similar vibe to the one I loved. A boutique called Grace Loves Lace caught my attention. As I scrolled down their page and admired their dresses, I was suddenly stopped in my tracks. I saw THE DRESS. Wait what?! I’d never heard of this brand until five minutes ago and they just so happened to be the makers of my dream dress.

Then, things get even crazier. I learned my dream dress was going to be discontinued on July 22nd. It was July 11th. That meant I needed to try the dress on ASAP or else I’d never know if it was the one.

I immediately called my mom to get her blessing to try on dresses without her. She’s in Minnesota for the summer and had planned to fly out for when I try on dresses, but this happened so quickly and was such a unique situation that she encouraged me to go ahead.

I figured it may be tough to get an appointment at this boutique on such late notice, but to my surprise there was one appointment left on Saturday. BOOKED!

The morning of my appointment, I woke up with a sense of calmness. I shed a few tears. I didn’t have any expectations, I just felt quietly certain that today would be the day I’d get my dress.

You’re Never Alone

With my friends Jess and Gina along for the day, we made the drive up to Grace Loves Lace in Venice. As we approached the boutique, my friend Meg suddenly popped out to greet us. Um… Meg lives in San Francisco. I had no idea she was going to be here!

“What?! Oh my gosh! What are you doing here?!” I exclaimed.

Apparently, as soon as Meg found out I’d made my dress appointment, she booked a flight down to LA for the day so she could be there with me. I was so incredibly touched by this kind gesture. To have one of my best friends there, unexpectedly, took this day to a whole other level.

As we sipped champagne sprinkled with rose petals, I tried to find moments to just breathe and take in the experience. For so long, I’d dreamed of trying on wedding dresses. Finally my special day was here.

As it happens, I tried on the dress I thought was my dream dress and it actually wasn’t the one for me! While it was beautiful, I didn’t get that feeling, when I tried it on. The next one, though, lit me up. I couldn’t stop smiling. I felt like my most beautiful self as I looked in the mirror.

This is it!

With three of my closest friends there with me in person, plus my mom and two other besties present over Facetime, I chose my dress.

It was so effortless! It happened naturally and perfectly. This dress, this appointment, this boutique, it all happened without a ton of effort on my end. No stress, no pushing. It was so clearly what was meant to happen for me.

The Universe has my back. Duh!

I usually have a great relationship with the Universe/God. I’m pretty good about trusting that I’m not alone and it’s going to be okay. But, frankly, I lost sight of this fact as I stressed out day after day. I feel like my randomly stumbling upon my wedding gown was a nudge from the Universe saying, Remember? I got you!

If you’re open to seeing it and believing it, you’ll notice the Universe always sends nudges and synchronicities. There’s no such thing as a random coincidence. And if you believe that, you’ll see how much magic exists in daily life. You’ll find that things just keep working out in your favor.

Synchronicity: A meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.

Carl Jung

And since the night I stumbled upon my dream dress on Instagram, my stomach ache has been gone. Seriously!

The Universe sent me that synchronicity to remind me that I’m not alone. Not only does the Universe have my back, but so do my friends and family. They care about me. They love me. They’re here to support me.

This goes for you, too! Remember, despite how it may feel sometimes, you’re never alone on this path.

If you knew who walks beside you on this path you have chosen, you would never experience fear or doubt again.

Wayne Dyer

With love,

Alissa