A few days ago, I met one of my upstairs neighbors as she was taking one of her two daily walks around our apartment building. “I walk each of the four floors, including all five wings, twice a day! I want to keep my body active as long as I possibly can. If the day comes that I need more help, I know I can live with my son. Until then, my goal is to live independently. I’m eighty-eight years old, and, God willin’, I can stay here until my dying days.”  

I felt inspired. Without even knowing it, she had just given me a little gift—the gift of guidance. If she can walk all four floors of our building twice a day using her walker, then I can get out of my recliner, walk the twenty-five steps down the hall to the fitness center, and exercise for fifteen minutes a day. Of course, this would be in addition to walking with Miss Ava.  

Guidance comes in many forms. Sometimes it’s a gentle nudge like that one. Other times, it’s a whack on the side of the head. Either way, those little internal whispers are a form of guidance. You can call these nudges spiritual, human, intuitive, or heartfelt. Whatever name you give them, it’s up to us to follow them.  

Have you ever had little nudges you ignored?  

Has your heart told you one thing and your head another?  

Which one did you follow?  

I like to think these are God’s way of talking to me. The little synchronicities, the little moments, even the little heartaches. God’s way of saying, “This way. Come on! That’s it. You can do it!”  

I used to have a spiritual guide who would say, “You have to be willing to be guided like a star, but flow like the wind.”  

I loved that! We have to be guided by God, Spirit, intuition, and others. Yet we can’t be rigid about it. We have to be flexible. Be willing to go where the wind takes us. Birds don’t argue with the wind. They adjust their wings. Perhaps we’re called to do the same.  

Sometimes we may feel off course, and yet, everything—yes, everything—is in divine order. We may need to travel over a mountain to gain perspective or through a storm to prepare us for what lies ahead. Wherever we go, whatever we do, God’s Spirit and guidance are always present. There will be calm.  

My neighbor probably has no idea she became one of God’s messengers that evening. It makes me wonder how often we become that gentle nudge for someone else without ever knowing it.   

I challenge you that when the next time comes, and you have an encounter with a neighbor, friend, or family member, stop. Listen. See what your guidance is telling you. Perhaps that conversation, chance meeting, or unexpected interruption isn’t an interruption at all. Perhaps it’s guidance. Breathe into the moment. Allow yourself to be guided. And, when life changes direction, allow yourself to flow like the wind. For in doing so, you will change the way you see and change the way you live.