Little Christmas Village

It's interesting what pieces of memories stick with us from when we were young. This season brought to mind the tiny town my dad used to put together approaching Christmas. We had this long table beneath a large mirror in the living room that he used as a stage for this miniature Christmas village.

He had different ceramic houses, each one unique, and he'd set them up just so, surrounded by the tiniest green bottle brush cones posed as pine trees. Each year, he'd try to add another house, and another the year after, until we could not fit any more on that table.

Every time it's set up, I'd stare at it. It was perfect for a child's imagination. Charming brick homes, greenery in every corner, and just the right amount of snow to make the whole thing quite magical.

Today, living in Northeast Ohio, as I drive around town to do errands and such, I feel like I've been transported to that magical Christmas village. I'm surrounded by those same charming brick homes, tons of trees, and snow. I still find myself staring at them with childlike fascination, but now layered with a profound sense of gratitude. By some wild twist of fate, that little girl from Manila ended up here, quite literally on the other side of the globe, no longer looking in, but living inside that tiny town.

Life has a way of blowing you away, if you let it. Each time your future self nudges you, whether it's through something you feel in your gut or a path falling apart, allow yourself to be steered, to be guided, toward the life, person, work or purpose that was meant for you.

It's not always pretty. Sometimes the most difficult experiences - losing a job, a break up, a failed business, a falling out - are the ones that pivot our lives so hard to wake us up and make us realize we've been walking the wrong path.

It had to happen.

It's the Universe's last ditch effort to grab your face and point it at the right direction. So when you experience any one of these things, try and pay attention.

What is it trying to teach you?

Where is it leading you?

How are you better off for it?

Of course, allow yourself to cry your heart out. To grieve. To be mad, even.

But once your heart settles, find a quiet place in it to seek the answers to these questions.

Every painful thing we have or will experience has a point. It just doesn't happen for the hell of it.

It's the Universe trying to do its thing hoping you recognize the reason behind it. And it will keep doing its part, even if it's painful, until you figure out why, until the path ahead looks a little bit clearer, until you find the courage to look back and realize how far you've come and what was messy and heartbreaking suddenly all make sense.

Until your future self is now you.