When Life Falls Apart, It's Actually Falling Into Place
Why 'Bad Timing' Is Actually Perfect Timing
What does it really mean to trust the Universe?
It’s easy when things are going well—like when that famous restaurant gets a last-minute cancellation, and you slide right in for your birthday dinner.
But true trust isn’t just about surrendering to the good. It’s about surrendering to all of it: The unforeseen. The detours. The dead ends. Remembering that even the hardest moments carry hidden purpose.
A few weeks ago, I shared the story of the farmer and the horse. When the farmer’s horse runs away and the neighbor says, “How unlucky.” The farmer simply replies, “Good or bad, who’s to say?” Because who are we to judge a moment by how it feels? It often only makes sense in hindsight.
During Covid, I was stuck in a moldy San Francisco apartment. It entered my system and pulled me down—mentally, emotionally, physically. I couldn’t sleep. I was anxious. Eczema flared up on my face. Eventually, I burned out at work. Everything began to unravel.
Back then, it just felt like everything was falling apart. Now I see it was falling into place.
That mold pushed me to make a drastic change. I moved to London. A couple of years later, I got laid off. Another curveball. Another “bad thing.” But it opened the space I needed to leap into the unknown. Would I be here now without the mold? Without the layoff?
Probably not.
The reality is: most of life is outside our control. And when we stop resisting the changes life throws our way, we make space for life to surprise us.
Trusting the Universe doesn’t mean we stop caring. It means we stop forcing. It means letting go of how we thought things would unfold—and allowing what’s here, right now, to guide us somewhere new.
And that’s when the fun begins.
We stop trying to walk a path that’s no longer there—and begin to follow the one unfolding beneath our feet.
Because sometimes, what looks like a detour is really a redirection—a quiet invitation to explore a path we never imagined. An unexpected doorway into a life we didn’t even know was possible.
So when something seemingly doesn’t go our way, we can resist. We can spiral. Or, we can shift our mindset and tune in to the quiet wisdom of the Universe:
We weren’t meant to do that right now.
So remember: you’re not lost. You’re being guided. Trust the process. Find comfort in the discomfort. Loosen your grip on control. Listen to what life’s trying to teach you and flow with what’s unfolding. Because life will surprise you when you least expect it.
And when it does—you’ve got two choices:
Swim against the current,
or pop up on your surfboard
and ride the wave.
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I needed to hear this right now 🤍 thanks Ethan, lovely read
Once again, beautifully said and written. Most of all, thank you for sharing -- your ROI on forging a new path so courageously is exponential.