Life Shows You Signs

Good Morning Ya'll!

Today, I want to shine light on the tiny signs that reaffirmed a major decision in my life.

After resisting the decision to move back to the US for weeks, certain signs made it unavoidable.

Today, we're sharing the stories behind these signs.

THE LITTLE SIGNS

In the latter part of September, I couldn't stop contemplating the idea of moving back to America.

My mind was giving me every reason to stay, but my body kept telling me it was time to go.

Then, one night changed everything...

It was a Wednesday night around 6:30 pm.

I was driving my moped to a co-working space, where I'd be hosting my weekly Men's Circle event.

As I was on my way there, I got stuck in a pretty heavy traffic jam.

Let me paint the scene for you...

Remember, this is the countryside of Indonesia.

That means there are no sidewalks,

no stop lights, no real driving laws,

The roads are so narrow that traffic in both directions must stop to allow a truck to pass.

On this night in particular, a utility truck carrying dozens of coconuts had broken down in the middle of the road.

The bed of the truck was unhinged, meaning the coconuts had sprawled out around the busiest intersection in the entire city.

This was a pretty common occurrence.

Imagine a pasty 6'2" white boy, stuck in a traffic jam among a crowd of 5'3" Indonesian rice farmers, who were all on their way to feed their cattle for the night.

As I patiently waited for my turn to carefully navigate my moped through the sea of coconuts, I couldn't help but contemplate the move back home.

When it was finally my turn to pass, I carefully walked my bike through the intersection.

As I was moving, my eyes locked onto something I will never forget.

I came to a dead stop, right in the middle of traffic.

The rice farmers were honking and cursing at me to get a move on, but I was mesmerized by what I saw.

It was a rice farmer, wearing a bright, lime green polo shirt.

The polo had a company logo on the right side of the chest.

As I stared closer, the company logo looked more and more familiar.

The logo was "GVR" with small letters underneath that said,

"Green Valley Ranch Resort Spa & Casino Henderson, Nevada".

I was shocked.

Again, this wasn't as if I was living in San Diego at the time, I was living on the complete other side of the world.

A small village on the southern peninsula of Bali, Indonesia.

I just so happened to come across a rice farmer with a perfectly good uniform with the name of the hotel that's located 10 minutes from my childhood home.

It's the same place I took my Prom photos during high school.

The same place I'd go see movies on the weekend.

I even went to "Green Valley High School" right up the street.

The odds of this happening felt like one in a million.

It felt like the universe was sending me a message.

A FEW MINUTES LATER

I spent the rest of the drive to the co-working space in absolute shock of what I just witnessed.

Is this a sign that I should move back?

Or just a coincidence?

A few minutes later, as I parked my moped in the parking lot, I noticed another guy roll up at the same time.

I figured that any guy in their 20's or 30's that’s rolling up to the co-working space at this time, was definitely going to The Men's Circle.

I walked up to him and introduced myself.

His name was Preston.

I immediately noticed by his accent that he was American.

It's very rare to see fellow Americans in Bali.

Most of the expat community were Australians or Eastern Europeans.

I begin to ask Preston where he's from.

He says, "I just moved here from Austin, Texas".

I was shocked again.

A few weeks prior, when I initially got the feeling that I needed to move back, my internal dialogue immediately went to,

"Well, if I have to move back, I'm definitely going to live in Austin, Texas."

I had spent the prior day researching all about Austin, just to convince myself that everything would work out if I moved.

Now I'm meeting someone from Austin, Texas.

I say to Preston, "Bro! I've spent the past few days learning everything I can about that place. I have the feeling I need to move there."

Without hesitation, he says "do it."

We then talked about everything Austin, Texas for the remaining 30 minutes before The Men's Circle officially starts.

Preston was born and raised, and practically sold me on the idea of moving there.

A FEW MINUTES AFTER THAT

A few minutes later, Preston and I begin to walk up to the room where I'd be hosting the event.

Newcomers and regulars began to form a circle.

Preston sat on my left and a newcomer sat on my right.

About halfway through the session, I felt the need to share with the group the decision I've recently been contemplating about moving back.

I mentioned the GVR shirt on the rice farmer,

just having met Preston,

and the other signs that made me feel like it's time to move back to America, see my family in Las Vegas, and then move to Austin.

As I share this, the newcomer on my right speaks up...

"Bro, you're from Las Vegas? I've been living there for the past four years!"

I respond with, "No way, are you serious?"

He says, "Yeah, in Henderson."

I begin to lose it.

"WTF is going on?"

The odds of seeing the shirt, meeting two Americans, one from my childhood city, the other from my potential future city,

all while in the countryside of Indonesia…

I felt like those odds are like one in a billion.

I said to the group, "Okay God, I get it."

I'm coming home.

CONCLUSION

Ever since that day, I've used the universe as my special advisor.

Every time I'm uncertain about my next action, I just ask for help.

Small signs like these now pop up almost immediately, and give me all the guidance I need.

All we have to do is ask.

That's it for today, I hope that you know...

You are loved and you are enough.

See you tomorrow, I love you all.

-Cameron Hogan