Synchronicity Strikes Again!

• What synchronicity actually is — and how it shows up in the most ordinary moments of your day

• Why shifting from a negative to a positive perspective can literally change the physical world converging around you

• The church lesson “worship while you wait” and how it applies to being stuck in traffic (or anywhere else)

• Why your inner world — your psyche, your intention, your perspective — is the real lever for shaping your outer reality

• How a single moment of awareness about your intention can change everything that follows

A note before we begin: Unorthodox Perspectives are my podcasts voicenotes and recordings. What you’re about to read is a polished, structured version of that recording.

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Greetings and welcome to another episode of Unorthodox Perspectives. I am your host, Franklin O’Kanu.

In this podcast, titled Synchronicity Strikes Again, I want to talk through an example of synchronicity that I experienced — not only to show you how synchronicity can occur, but more specifically, how when we shift our perspective, especially from a negative perspective to a positive one, the world seems to almost converge upon that reality.

So without further ado, let’s dive right in.

The other day, I had to go into my job’s office. With my job, we work with different teams all over the world, and for this particular event, we wanted to meet in person just to brainstorm a couple of ideas. We do this from time to time, but for the most part, the teams are virtual and remote.

When we planned on meeting in person this time, however, it was a little bit different. Usually, there’s an assistant who helps us out in person and takes care of everything, but they weren’t going to be there that day. And with me being the most seasoned individual on the team, I wanted to get there on time. I wanted to help everyone get set up, know where everything was, and be there when everyone arrived.

So I planned on leaving my house roughly around six thirty in the morning to get there with plenty of time — maybe around seven o’clock or so. That would give me enough time to get situated, have everything set up, and greet the teams as they came in. Something else to note is that we were having breakfast brought in for everyone, so everyone could eat before we got started with an all-day session of brainstorming.

Now, that was the plan I had. But as we all know, plans sometimes fall apart. If you read my article on the trickster — man makes plans, and God laugh s— you know where this is going.

Did I leave the house at six thirty? I absolutely did not. I actually left closer to six fifty, almost seven o’clock. And of course, as I’m leaving the house, I’m somewhat agitated that I’m leaving so late because now I’m starting to run into the traffic I specifically wanted to avoid.

So I run into traffic. And as I’m getting closer to the job site, I’m stuck in a line of traffic with seemingly no end. It’s going to take me another ten minutes just because it’s a one-lane road and everyone seems to be turning left. And that’s when the thoughts start happening. Man, we’re late. Man, we should have done this earlier. Man, how could we have done this differently? It was just one thought after another: Oh, we messed up. The plan is gone, yada, yada, yada.

But then I had another thought. Well, hold on, Franklin. Hold on one second. Yes, all of these things have happened. Yes, we are late. We can’t change that fact.

But as you’ve been reading in your book, The Happiness Advantage, what if we flip this? What if we say, yes, we are here in traffic, but what if we focus on the locus of our control and realize that whether I feel negative or positive, I’m still going to be sitting in traffic for the next ten minutes until I make this turn?