The Universe Will Conspire to Bring You Love if You Ask For It

A secret to shifting from heartbreak to love that isn’t the usual “happily ever after”

I lay in bed shattered after the unexpected collapse of a relationship. My soul-sung tears came from the deep longing many of us feel — to love and be loved. Perhaps the hardest part of losing love is the loss of a future with the person you were with. Hope vanishes, leaving a big empty space to fill.

In the agony, I found myself putting a plea to the universe in the form of the Percy Mayfield song, Please, Send Me Someone to Love. If I knew how exacting and swift the universe would be, which I should have known, I would have made my plea more specific.

Be careful what you pray for

It may seem odd that my plea came in the form of wanting someone to love, rather than someone to love me. But, isn’t that where the healing resides; in giving more than receiving? Frankly, I was secretly hoping the universe would send me a dog. Specificity is important.

The night of my request for an intervention from the divine I had a dream. In that dream, a group of unknown beings —spiritual guides perhaps — were matching me up with various souls. I would stand there as they would line up what appeared as a radiant light body next to me, making an assessment as to whether there was a resonant fit.

No, not this one.

No.

Nope.

Not quite.

Then, after some time, these spiritual guides stumbled on a fit between me and another soul. They looked at each other with surprise. It was as if this soul was an unlikely match for me.

If this was the only dream, it would have meant very little. A few nights later though, I had another dream where I was shown in a photograph of me with this person. A few nights after that I was told his name was Will.

Then, as the universe would have it, I met Will in real life.

The power of dreams

This story may sound farfetched, but everything you read here is true. I was an avid dreamer — a skill I cannot recall having as a child. It was something I developed in my twenties by recording my dreams upon waking every morning. At first, I would wake with a vague memory or sometimes just a feeling. But over the years, as I kept recording my dreams, my memory and recall became a whole lot more specific.

I had come to trust my dreams, but what was happening here was at a whole other level than anything I had experienced before.

Meeting this soul in real life

Our first date wasn’t particularly notable. Like the surprise my spiritual guides had, I sat across from Will wondering, who is this person? Eighteen years my junior, it was hard to see what we had in common. He was anxious and most of my recollections of our first encounter revolved around talking about mental health.

The evident mismatch led me to question whether the universe got it right. Or whether I had somehow misinterpreted the very explicit dreams. But here he was — the guy from the photo in my dreams called Will. He was a sweet and kind person, and I resolved to continue the journey and meet him again.

We went for nature walks over our next several dates. We walked around lakes and hiked through forests. As we got to know each other, our conversations got deeper and more comfortable. Hours would pass and we just loved each other’s company. Most significantly, I noticed how the painful heartbreak from my last relationship was lifting. I was now in a new space.

My heart knew what was right.

I would have usually kissed a guy by this stage. But everything was taking its own natural — or dare I say — divine time. Our connection was much deeper and more special than most of what I’d experienced before. My head was still doubting whether Will was the person the universe sent, even though my heart knew he was right.

A couple of months passed, and we’d become very close. We each knew that it was time to explore whether to take this to another level. We talked about it over the phone one evening and decided we’d make some resolution the next time we met.

The vista reveals an unexpected view

I had still not resolved within myself what I wanted when I met Will at the entrance to the National Park. I knew I cared about him deeply. As a way of avoiding a decision, I left it to the universe to determine the right course of action. If Will wanted to pursue something bigger, I would give it a go. If not, I was fine with that too. Perhaps part of me feared destroying the beautiful thing we’d developed.

We walked for about half an hour, lost as always in our conversation, when we came to an outlook. There was tension between us as we’d not been able to speak what was in our hearts. But then, as we stood in the open vista, Will shared, “I think we should just be friends.”

The “just be friends” line is something most people never want to hear. But in this case, I was struck with relief. And then the most miraculous thing happened — we fell in love. I don’t mean infatuation or romance or anything like that. I mean the kind of love with no expectations and the miracle of accepting someone completely.

As we moved on with our hike through the wilderness, we entered our most vulnerable conversation yet. We talked about our deepest fears and highest longings. Something very sacred was growing in our connection.

By the time we made it back to his car, we looked at each other perplexed as if to ask, what just happened? Did we get the guidance from the universe wrong? Was this real love we were feeling? Then I noticed a sticker on Will’s car I hadn’t noticed before: May You Never Walk Alone. It turns out I was the answer to his own plea from the universe. The universe sent me to Will to help heal his heart.

The universe often knows what we need more than we do

I truthfully wished the universe would send me a dog when I first made my plea. But even though I wanted the uncomplicated love of a puppy, it is funny how when meeting a human, our highly romanticized world led me to think that love equals a romantic relationship.

In this case, the universe knew my heart needed, more than anything, the most sacred human relationship there is: a spiritual friendship. The kind of relationship that is uncomplicated by longing, fears, or expectations. One that fearlessly holds the other in a safe and nurturing place to explore the highest and deepest of what life can offer.

You can have this too!

Here’s the secrets I learned from this:

1. Ask sincerely for what you are looking for but be aware of what you ask for as it may well come true.
2. Record your dreams. This can be useful for gaining insights into almost any area of life including career, health, relationships, life direction, and more.
3. Be grateful for every gift the universe sends. But don’t judge a book by its cover — it may take time for the person or experience to be revealed as a gift.
4. Cultivate and treasure all friendships.

Beyond “Happily Ever After”

Will and I have come in and out of focus with each other over the past few years. Life moves on to new experiences and new loves. I will always be grateful for his presence in my life, for how he helped heal my heart, and for the perfection of the universe to deliver the kind of love I never knew I needed at that time.

It is easy to equate “happily ever after” with the fairy-tale ideal of finding a romantic partner. I love love, and value all the partnerships I’ve had. But the greatest happily-ever-after relationships in my life are the deep friendships that stand the tests of time.