Everything happens for a reason

I debated on whether or not I should use this blog title now as this saying conveys a very powerful message that maybe I want to save for a more monumental occasion. Then I decided I was putting way too much thought into it so it’s being used now.

I first learned this lesson on a cold, rainy, exhausting morning in Venice.

My little sister and I had been traveling for nine hours or so on an overnight train from Paris to Venice. We were originally supposed to go to Milan from Paris. The little sister changed plans at the last minute which meant we had no plan for Venice. No hostel, no guidebook, no idea on what to do or where to go or how to get there.

I like plans. I don’t like not having plans. This made me very uneasy.

When we got off the train after a restless night, I looked at her and said, ok, you got us here, now you figure out what the hell we are doing next. Our situation must have been quite obvious because after blankly starring at a tour guide brochure (written in Italian) for a few minutes, a woman approached us asking if we wanted her boots. At first we assumed she was a crazy, drunk and/or homeless person but soon realized the streets of Venice were flooded because of all the rain and she was offering us her boots as she was leaving the city. We graciously accepted them. She started to walk away before I came to my senses and called after her to see if she knew where we might be able to find a hostel. She invited us over to where she and her partner had all their baggage. She rummaged through her things, pulled out her guidebook and proceeded to rip out the section on Venice to give to us. Then she and her partner spent about 10 minutes going over a map of Venice with us, what to see, what to avoid, where really good restaurants were, how not to get ourselves lost. It was the sweetest act of kindness we had experienced yet in our travels. We thanked them profusely and headed out to find our way to a place to sleep.

In the sleeping section of the make-shift guidebook we now possessed, we read about a really cool church that had been converted into a hostel and decided to try there. We were in Piazza San Marco trying to navigate which way to go when all of a sudden there was a lot of commotion. Men in suits and police officers were moving people out of the way for an unknown reason. Seconds later the little sister and I saw two men dressed in orange robes, in the midst of the suits and officers, passing by us. They were an arms length away. It was kind of weird. As soon as the commotion started it was over and we were back on our way to finding the hostel, agreeing to google who the men in the orange robes might have been once we found computers.

We eventually found our way to the hostel and to our surprise they had room for us. Not to mention the church like atmosphere was pretty amazing and well preserved. We checked in, dropped our bags and went out to explore for a bit. By the time we got back there was another girl in our room. What was meant to be a quick “hi, what’s your story” convo turned into a few hours of great conversation and a connection beyond anything I had experienced before. The three of us went out that night and had one of the most memorable nights I can hardly remember. A friendship was formed that evening that defies the odds as I have remained immensely close to this girl over the last three years in spite of the fact that we have spent less then a total of five weeks in the same time zone together. At the risk of sounding super cheesy (and a tad bit lesbianish), I feel as though I met my soulmate that night.

Oh, and we did eventually find internet and googled what had been going on in Piazza San Marco. If you haven’t guessed it already, we were within an arms length of the Dalai Lama himself. Seems fitting for the “awakening” I experienced that day. I began to let go of my need to plan everything and just started letting life take me where I was meant to go. I chose to look at all our detours, missed trains, illnesses and the like as more of an opportunity then a setback . It’s amazing what happens when you do this – the rest of our travels far surpassed any expectation I could have set. I continue to operate by this philosophy to this day and have found life has become way more enjoyable and interesting.

To bring this all to present day – in my last post I wrote about losing the volunteer gig at the yoga studio and not knowing what to do with my unemployed self. I decided to do a search for yoga studios near our home to see if maybe I could create an opportunity for myself. As luck would have it, there is a studio about a 5 minute bike ride from where we live and they just so happened to be looking for a volunteer (in the biz they call it energy exchange or karma work). I went for an interview and to my pleasant surprise, not only did they want to bring me on as a volunteer but they also wanted me to work on a part-time basis as they needed some more shifts covered. I was confused because I had been very open about my “I’m an illegal tourist who created my own visa and am expecting to be deported any day” situation. Turns out the owners have been in the same situation in the US and have no problem paying me under the table. Score!

If that wasn’t enough to believe that things happen for a reason, then let me tell you that this studio is also quite unique. The owners have created a fascinating fusion between cycling/spinning and yoga. I know, that doesn’t work, right? That’s what I thought until I experienced it for myself….

Thirty minutes of intense cycling where the instructor is pushing you to your limits and beyond while pulsing beats keep you pedaling in time, followed by thirty minutes of candlelit, meditative, calming yoga, – how does that not work? Geniuses. I tried my first class last week and I am officially hooked.

So to summarize this crazy mess, last week I had no idea what I was going to do with my time and this week I have found a new hobby that will keep my body fit, my mind aware and put dollars in my pocket. That’s enough to keep me believing that everything happens for a reason and, even though we might not always be able to see or understand why, life is better lived when you believe this.