It's Just You & the Universe

Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, "Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen."

Paulo Coelho, over a hundred years later, resurrected this very idea in The Alchemist: "Quando você quer alguma coisa, todo o universo conspira para que você realize o seu desejo."

And how true. Everything is beyond our control - and yet, everything is within our control. Oftentimes, this is reserved for dreams that we might dedicate every birthday cake candle to, dreams that we might pray for even if we're not religious, dreams that we try oh-so-hard to fall asleep back to. And of the effect the universe has on such dreams, I am an unshakable believer. If you wish with all your soul to know true happiness, it will find you, even if it is in the least expected way in a darkened apartment on the 20th floor of a building in Shanghai.

But sometimes, you're not seeking such heavy dreams. Sometimes you just push your hopes and emotions to the edge of the cliff, if only for a moment, and whisper a quick prayer that you will fly and not, well, tumble and fall. Even these dreams, I am quickly coming to learn, are within the grasp of the universe. If you don a red jersey and scream until your head goes numb wishing for the Hong Kong soccer team to win the gold medal match in the East Asian games, they will win, whether it is by some blade of grass, gust of wind, or simply the willpower of forty thousand fans flying a gigantic Hong Kong flag around the stadium and carrying a wave eight times around the stadium as the spotlights shine on into the night.

And at times, you will look for something much smaller. At times, you will look for something simply because it will make you smile, and even if you don't find it, not a drop of rain will fall - but it's better if you do, because the sun will shine just a tad brighter. Even these transitory dreams, I am beginning to suspect, can and will be influenced by the universe. If you suddenly remember the story of some guy who had once bought something on some promotion that gave him loads of frequent flyer miles, that story will find you, even if searching haphazardly fails to produce any results, and you decide to watch Punch-drunk Love for the first time without reading about it beforehand for no particular reason an hour later, only to find that the frequent flyer miles story you were thinking of was actually recreated in that. very. movie.

Life is wonderful. Everything happens for a reason, even if the reasons aren't abundantly or initially clear, and seemingly bad things can lead to good things, seemingly good things can lead to great things, seemingly great things lead to amazing things, and amazing things make for an amazing life.

But at the end of the day, when the flights have all landed, when all the songs have been sung, when all is said and done, all that matters is that

Everything will be alright.

(*Edit: If you want the Canadian men's hockey team to win Olympic gold in Vancouver, they will win.)