Squire Rushnell wrote a book called “when God winks: How the Power of Coincidence Guides Your Life.” In it, Rushnell defines a Godwink as a personal signal or message, directly from a higher power, usually, but not always, in the form of a coincidence. I’m on my second reading of the book.

Most of my friends know that I passionately love to fly airplanes. And since my first trip to Santa Fe four years ago, most of them also know that my goal is to one day live there. Flying airplanes and living in Santa Fe. That’s the vision I have for my life. I’m sure my life will unfold in many more interesting and surprising ways. But that’s the baseline.

Getting to where I want to go with my life is a challenge, with many self-created roadblocks along the way. But through each challenge I’ve held onto my vision, flying airplanes and living in Santa Fe. And I feel closer to realizing my vision than ever before. And what’s kept me going through the challenging times are the Godwinks Squire refers to in his book. Those moments when something, some small message that I was tuned into, allowed me to know that I was on the right path.

For the last couple of years that message has been delivered courtesy of the Hyundai Santa Fe. It seems as though whenever I’m driving, stopped at a traffic light, or pulling through a parking lot, when a negative thought about my current situation or  future plans creeps into my mind, invariably a Hyundai Santa Fe pulls in front of me, reminding me that I need to keep going and keep believing. Two days ago I went to meet a friend for lunch. I drove through three parking lots looking for a space. Finally, and with a couple of minutes to spare, a car backed out of a space in front of. Wanna guess what kind of car it was?

My love of airplanes has brought me to the place in life where I want to challenge myself to fly jets. And as you can imagine, jet training’s really expensive. But rather than focus on the cost, I’m visualizing myself flying jets out of the airport in Santa Fe. I’m also visualizing my training, seeing myself flying the jet and passing my checkride. I even ordered a cockpit poster so that I could see how the panel is laid out and become familiar with it before I begin my training. The poster arrived yesterday and I laid the box against the wall in my living room.

This morning about 5:30 I went downstairs to read. I set a couple of books on the table and without making another move, the unopened box which contained the cockpit poster fell directly in front of my feet. I had not brushed up against the box. In fact, I had not gotten any closer to the box than 2 or 3 feet.

Hmm.

It occurs to me that we can go through life with our heads down, just taking what life gives us and going through the motions, until the day when our motion stops for good. Or we can tune in to our purpose for being on this planet. We can discover our talents and gifts, the ones that have been with us since we first arrived. And we can use them to do work that inspires us and moves the world forward.

Take time, wherever you are, to consider your place in the world. Think about your gifts and talents. Discover your passions. And if you don’t have a vision for your life, create one. Then listen and watch for the Godwinks that tell you that you’re on the right path.

Carpe Diem!