Do things really come in threes?

My mom used to tell me that bad things come in threes. So if there was a plane crash, I’d wait for two more. If someone got hurt, I’d wait for 2 other injuries to happen.

As an adult, I wonder how much of my time is spent waiting for the other events to unfold? Things (and I hesitate to call them bad, because really, who am I to determine what’s good or bad?) have been happening out of the norm in my little world. Illness, car accidents, broken bones- all within a relatively short period of time.

And as with everything in my life, I’m constantly looking for the reason behind the experiences. If my soul calls the experiences toward me to fulfill a part of my spiritual curriculum, what is the opportunity for all of these experiences? What can I learn from them?

Well, shoot, I don’t know. Sometimes I’m just too close to it all to figure out the why. Sometimes I never figure it out. But many times, most of the time in fact, if I stay open, I can find a lesson in every experience.

I think part of the lesson for what’s going on in my life now is how I am with myself during these events. Can I remain gentle with myself or do I start beating myself up? It’s very easy to spin down the spiral of judgment- why am I not understanding the lessons? Why am I not more spiritual? If I were further along in my spiritual development, these lessons would stop showing up, right?

Of course I really don’t want the lessons to stop showing up. That’s why we’re here, after all. The lessons provide a wonderful opportunity to deepen my connection with my Self and Spirit. But I guess I’d like them to show up in a more gentle fashion, which is totally possible.

Another thing I’ve noticed during these experiences is my attachment to the outcome. Even though I can’t control how things are going to unfold, I can (at least try to) control how I react to them. This is definitely a skill that requires discipline and I’m not nearly close to perfecting it. But I can see the benefits for shifting my way of being from a worrier to someone who is more accepting and allowing myself to surrender more deeply into the what is. I have a knowing that if I can allow more room for trust, surrender and acceptance, inevitably I’ll be more satisfied with my overall experience.

So do things really come in threes? I don’t know. (And where did that come from anyway?!) What I do know is that part of my journey is to remain gentle with myself as I’m going through the one, two, three or five things; to acknowledge that every situation is part of the journey that I have called forward. That there’s no good or bad, just what is. And allow myself to surrender into the Universal flow of energy, trusting it is all unfolding perfectly, for the Highest good of all concerned.

So you know what I did? I baked cookies. In the middle of the week- I indulged myself and baked some delicious chocolate chip cookies. Just because. Because after all, maybe good things come in threes too. And the journey is always more fun with cookies!

In loving,

Sarah