Story 19: Trust What’s Lighting Up For You—It’s A Sign

I’m pausing to rewind the clock here. Back to 1999, when my oldest son was almost twelve months old and my only daughter was nearly three.

At the time, I was a stay-at-home mum to my two little darlings. Money was tight, so to help make ends meet, I decided to look for a job working nights while the kids slept.

Out of all the options, the Raffles Hotel was the one place that kept lighting up for me. I felt a powerful, magnetic inner pull toward it.

Rationalising the impulse, I told myself it made perfect sense: it was only five minutes from home and involved bar work, which I already had plenty of experience doing.

So, I dressed to the nines, walked in, and applied, hopeful they might actually be hiring.

Unfortunately, there were no vacancies. Still, I left happy knowing they would keep my resume on hand just in case their circumstances changed.

And change they did.

Approximately two weeks later, my phone rang. It was the bar manager with exciting news: a position had opened up, and they wanted to know if I was still interested. Elated, I accepted on the spot.

My casual roster put me on the late-night shifts for Friday and Saturday evenings. I settled in quickly, getting to know the names and faces of all the regulars.

Among them was a guy who came in every single Saturday night.

I felt incredibly intimidated by him at first, mostly because he was drop-dead gorgeous and I was instantly attracted to him.

But as the weeks passed and our conversations began to flow, I finally relaxed. He was a wonderful person to talk to.

A couple of months into the job, he completely surprised me by sliding a handwritten note across the bar. It read: “I'm not exactly sure if it's as a friend or what, but I just know that you're someone I need to have in my life."

Wow. I was instantly blown away by the clarity and sheer intuitiveness of his message.

At the time, I was already married, albeit very unhappily. This was long before I knew anything about the Law of Attraction. Back then, my focus was entirely consumed by the negative aspects of my husband, and the universe was dutifully piling on more of the same.

Unsurprisingly, marriage counselling wasn't working. I desperately wanted out.

But carrying the huge responsibility of a baby and a toddler, I was terrified to leave. I was paralyzed by the fear that things wouldn't work out.

I feared ending up destitute on the streets, and more than anything, I feared being completely alone.

Seeking comfort, I leaned into meditation, hoping to find a glimpse of blissful divine light within. While I didn't find the light right away, I did find a sense of relief in the quietening of my mind.

And then came the turning point.

During one of our chats, my new bar friend said the exact thing I needed to hear. It finally gave me the inner strength to walk away from my unhappy marriage. He simply said, "I won’t be on my own forever."

I felt the deep, profound resonance of his conviction. He was absolutely right. I wouldn't be trapped in loneliness forever; I might eventually meet someone else down the track. This unhappy situation wasn't a life sentence.

With that realization, I summoned the courage to walk out the door and never look back.

Initially, I thought my impulse to work at the Raffles Hotel was just about finding a job. Yet, connecting the dots backward, I can clearly see it was about something much greater.

I truly believe my Inner Being guided me there specifically to cross paths with Nathan. We were destined to meet and to become important to each other.

When a close family member heard the news that I was leaving my marriage, they offered some very clear, incredibly unhelpful advice. They told me my new friend was just a barfly—basically a drunk—and that I shouldn't trust him. They warned me that if I left my husband, I’d just become a Jezebel, bouncing from one man to the next.

Fuck me. That blow landed incredibly hard. It left me absolutely reeling.

But I chose to follow my intuition anyway, and I am so profoundly thankful that I did. My friendship with the "bar guy" blossomed into a beautiful romance.

A few months later, we moved in together. An engagement followed eighteen months after that, and finally, marriage—fifteen years later! (Hey, we wanted to make sure! lol)

Fast forward to the present moment: we have been each other’s rock-solid foundation for almost 28 years.

What an incredible journey it has been, and continues to be.

Looking through my rose-coloured glasses, life just keeps getting better and better.

I feel incredibly blessed. Nathan is, by far, the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me.