The Universe Sent Me a Sign… and I Ignored It

It was the kind of evening where the sky blushes into gold, and everything feels just a little more meaningful than it probably is. I was sitting on a bench outside the little bookstore on 6th Street—my safe space, my usual Friday escape. I had a warm coffee in one hand, a journal in the other, and a thousand thoughts running through my head.

I was stuck in a job I hated. The kind where you feel like your soul clocks out long before your shift does. I kept telling myself it was temporary. Just until I figured things out. Just until I saved enough. Just until...

Until when?

That was the question echoing in my chest every night I dragged myself to sleep and every morning I hit snooze six times just to delay the inevitable.

But that evening, something odd happened.

As I sat there lost in thought, a little girl—maybe 7 or 8—ran past me and dropped a folded piece of paper. She didn’t notice, didn’t look back. I picked it up, thinking I’d chase after her, but when I unfolded it, I just… froze.

In bold, uneven crayon letters, it said:

“Do the thing that makes your heart beat louder.”

That was it. No explanation. No name. Just a sentence. A sentence that somehow felt written for me.

I looked up, but she was already gone—swallowed by the crowd, her laughter distant.

I laughed it off. “Weird,” I muttered. Coincidence. A cute accident. Nothing more.

But that night, I couldn’t shake it. I stared at the note again and again. That line kept looping in my head.

Do the thing that makes your heart beat louder.

For me, it was writing. Always had been. Since I was a kid scribbling stories on the backs of my notebooks. But adult life has a way of burying your dreams under deadlines, bills, and fear. I had stopped writing. Told myself it was just a hobby. That only lucky people got to make art and survive.

Still… that sign felt so clear. So intentional.

But I ignored it.

Weeks passed. I tucked the note in a drawer and continued my slow crawl through miserable Mondays and tired Tuesdays. The only thing louder than my heart was the silence I was living in.

And then came the layoff.

No warning. Just a cold meeting, a polite thank you, and a cardboard box.

Funny how life does that—gives you a whisper, then a shove.

That night, I took out the note again. This time I didn’t just read it.

I listened.

I opened a blank page and wrote. Not for money. Not for anyone. Just for the sheer joy of being honest on paper. I poured every ounce of frustration, fear, and freedom into that piece. And then I wrote another. And another.

It didn’t fix everything. I still had rent. I still had doubts.

But something shifted.

I started sharing my words. Started getting messages from strangers saying, “This made me cry,” or “This is exactly how I feel but couldn’t say.”

For the first time in years, I felt alive.

Looking back, I often wonder how my life might’ve changed if I had listened to that sign the first time. But I also know this:

The universe is patient.

If you ignore the whisper, it will wait.

Then it will shout.

Then it will break something wide open—just to get your attention.

So, if you’re reading this and waiting for a sign?

This is it.

Don’t wait for the shove. Listen to the whisper.

Do the thing that makes your heart beat louder.