Sometimes, things just go our way. We get the job we have been dreaming of, an unexpected check comes in the mail, or things just seem to effortlessly fall into place for no apparent reason. We call it luck or attribute it to simply having a good day, but in truth, we have been given a glimpse of the actual nature of the universe.

We tend to think the timing was right, never realizing that we are an innate part of the process. We are not random recipients of bounty. If only for the moment, our state of being pulls to us this divine experience of synchronicity. There is rhyme and reason to the way the universe unfolds. When we are "in the flow," we have released the illusion that we can protect ourselves by being in control. We have gotten out of the way long enough to experience how effortlessly this process takes place. We must be willing to stop pushing and allow the universe to send us the things we truly need rather than what we keep asking for.

When a bird looks for food, it makes an implicit assumption that it will find the worm and all will be okay. It does not get up and start thinking "What if I can't find food? What will happen to me?" It does not anticipate that there will be a problem. There is an ease with which it moves through its day, an underlying instinct that is minutely in keeping with life's basic nature. It does not think anything. Its being trusts that all will be provided for, and it does not question how.

To be in that state is to observe the precise timing in which all things fall into place and to simultaneously marvel at the exquisite manifestations of an ever-changing universe. When we are fortunate enough to have an experience of this wholeness, we are filled with humility and compassion. We never know when we will be the recipients of such grace -- that is part of the wonder.

I never thought a trip to the corner drugstore would deliver such an experience. I had gone there for the sole purpose of buying mascara and found myself wheeling the cart up and down each aisle looking for what else I could buy. On a top shelf, I spotted a box with a picture of a green birdfeeder. I liked the green color, but knew the last thing I needed was another birdfeeder. One had been hanging on my balcony for the past year. It had taken the doves close to three months to find it, but now they came every day. I looked at the box again and put it into my cart. I started to think about why I was purchasing it, and stopped myself. I was just going to buy it, and that was that.

Purchases in hand, I walked through my front door and headed out toward the balcony. There, lying on the ground, was the birdfeeder. My heart stopped. It looked like the wire that had been holding it had snapped. All I could do was stare at the broken feeder. A sense of wonder and wholeness filled my being. I felt disoriented, out of time and space, and yet at the same time I knew exactly where I was. I was 100 percent present. I could feel the intricacy of the process, every tiny little piece falling into place. Feeling it work, I intuitively knew that the birdfeeder had fallen the moment I had opened the door!

The universe operates with speed and efficiency in direct relation to our degree of trust. When we feel stuck, we need to get out of our own way. This does not mean that we simply sit back and do nothing, but rather that we know when to let go, when we have done enough. When we move through the world knowing that we will be provided for, magic happens.

We are taught that spiritual life requires an inward turning. In doing so, we neglect another part of life that has equal power to transform us -- life's outer manifestations. We are so focused on our inner life that we often become immobilized as we wait for a new feeling to overtake us before we make a change. We are looking for that inner green light. Sometimes, we wait forever and the feeling never comes.

To concentrate solely on one way of changing is to deny the complexity of how the universe works. Energy is constantly moving, and nothing stays the same. If we are to remain vigilant and make good choices, we need to maximize all our options.

If energy creates form, form also creates energy. That is, if what we feel inside is capable of creating certain events in our life, aren't certain things we do also able to alter the way we feel? For example, some of us meditate every day. It's difficult to get up an hour earlier each day and sit, hoping the mind will become quiet. It doesn't feel natural, but we remain disciplined and do it anyway. And then one day our mind stops churning, and we are filled with a sense of equanimity and contentment. Simply the act of placing our body in the same spot every day, regardless of how we feel, has a power all its own. It sends a message of longing to the Inner Self and sets the stage by creating a new form for energy to fill. This newly created vehicle will again connect us to our feelings and take us back to our core.

It is never easy to embrace a new way of doing things even when we know it is in our best interest. Initially, we feel immobilized, and forcing ourselves to do something new feels unnatural. But if we understand how energy works, we realize that it is precisely this feeling that is heralding a change for the better. We are stuck. We have gone as far as we can go without doing something different. Unless we are willing to stretch ourselves and reach out into the world, we will never be able to create new forms to express who we are. We cannot use our inner life as a weapon, retreating from a world that won't let us hide. When we do, we cut ourselves off from a lifeline of possibilities, fresh and different ways to experience the world.

Life is organic. All the pieces fit together with no one part being any more spiritual than any other. Our inner life feeds the outer, and the outer life nourishes the inner. This symbiotic relationship permeates all of life and, until we tap in to that rhythm, our life remains disjointed. No one can tell us when to stay quiet and wait for insight, or when to move out into the world with a sense of purpose and discipline. At each moment, only we can decide how to become more, and what we need to do to get there.