Hey, sister! Welcome back to a Taylored Adventure to Happiness. If you are new, welcome! If you are a regular, I love ya, I love ya, I love ya!
Is there anything in your life that you’re hanging on to with an iron grip? Is there something in your life that you really want, but no matter what you do, it just doesn’t seem to be happening? Whether it’s your health, finding a soulmate, doubling your income, or buying your dream home, I want you to bring that desire to the front of your mind.
Now take note of wherever you’re carrying tension in your body related to that unmet desire. Breathe into it. Don’t let your mind frantically search for all the answers you haven’t tried yet. Just be present with yourself and your desire.
Johnny and I have been on a wild ride manifesting our dream home since late 2019. Over the last few months, we have practiced holding our desires tight enough to give us direction but loose enough to let the Universe guide us. It’s been an fucking roller coaster of emotions. But I want to share it with you for two reasons. One, I want you to know what’s possible when you let the Universe guide you. And two, I want you to know that allowing the Universe to guide you is often not-linear so that when the Universe sends you on detours, you keep seeking.
I know my past self would have loved to have this message — it’s a super juicy and inspiring story. So, if you’re ready to find the golden nuggets hidden in resistance and receive with ease from the Universe, grab a cup of coffee and keep reading!
The Lens You Need to Read This Story With
Everything I share with you is always something I’m going through — good or bad. I want you to be able to cheer me on through the hard parts and celebrate the victories with me. Why? Because we’re all mirrors of each other. My life is not all that different from yours. You might not be searching for your dream house like Johnny and me, but you’re searching for something.
My intention is for you to see yourself in the journey I’m sharing, whether in my experience of loss, confusion, or a surprise ending. There are incredible life lessons in this story that we all need. So, whatever that desire is that you brought to the front of your mind, hold it with curiosity as you read!
Also, I recorded a podcast earlier this year about the first half of this journey. I’ll give you a quick review in this post, but if you don’t want to miss a detail, you can listen to that episode here.
Alrighty, let’s dive in!
How to Recognize and Honor Resistance
At the beginning of this journey, we made an offer on what we thought was our dream home! But our hearts were broken a few days later when the sellers backed out. Legally the sellers weren’t allowed to do that, but it led us to pursue building our own house. Johnny and I found a builder and designer. We put Pinterest boards together so they would know exactly what we wanted and found 10-15 different plots of land to look at. Everything was smooth sailing. All we had to do was pick the property we wanted to build on.
Suddenly, on July 4th weekend, I got the strongest sense of resistance, like, “No, no, you’re not supposed to do this.” I kept thinking the following weekend the feeling would lift, and I would be able to make a decision. But that release never came, so I honored the resistance, and I energetically paused for the month of July.
When I have to put the internal brakes on in a situation like this, I don’t question it. I hold space for it and stay open to receiving guidance for the next step — it’s the art of surrendering and releasing control (something my grandfather demonstrated for me daily during his time on earth, you can read about it here). Thankfully, my husband has learned not to question when I’m receiving guidance and gives me space to receive.
At the end of July, my husband did start asking, “Babe, what’s the plan? Our lease is up in August.” But whenever I said, “I’m waiting for guidance. I know it’s all going to work out.” He took a deep breath and trusted right along with me.
How to Receive and Test Guidance
On our way to the Phoenix airport after our Sedona trip, I received a download to buy an RV. So I looked at Johnny and announced, “We’re gonna buy an RV and travel around in it.” Johnny said, “Okay, we’ll talk about it.” And I was like, “No, this is us talking about it. I’m looking at RVs on my phone as we speak.” A couple of hours after getting home, I had officially convinced Johnny that we needed to do the RV thing.
At this point, my birthday was a week and a half away. I had a vision of celebrating by taking our RV to Colorado, where I grew up, for a two-week road trip. But we didn’t have an RV yet. I had a specific picture of the RV I wanted in my mind because it was really important to me to find an RV that didn’t look like it belonged to a retired couple. Then, as we were googling RVs, the exact RV I was picturing pops up. We called the RV place and asked if we could buy the RV online.
The guy on the other end of the phone thought we were crazy for not taking it for a test drive first but walked us through an online purchase. That Saturday, the RV was ours! We took it camping that weekend for a test run and a few days later set off for my two-week birthday trip.
It was everything I had hoped for and then some!
Whenever I receive guidance, I say, “Yes,” immediately. And then I finish it with, “But if I’m hearing you right, Universe, this is going to be easy.” This statement is important to me because sometimes we receive guidance, but we misinterpret it. This qualifying piece of it being easy helps me have something measurable to know whether or not I heard the Universe right.
If you have a desire that just isn’t falling into place or the momentum you have doesn’t feel right anymore, lean into that. Sister, that resistance is your friend. It’s trying to get you to slow down so that you can receive something better. So, slow down, receive, and then give the guidance you’re getting a shot!
What to Do When the Universe Throws You a Plot Twist
On our way home from Colorado, I felt like I was getting a download to renew our lease on our apartment. When I told Johnny, he thought that made sense. Even though we had just bought an RV, it felt good to go on extended road trips and return to a grounded home. So we extended our lease.
After a few road trips, we started calling ourselves the bougie gypsies. We made plans to trade in my BMW for a Jeep that could be pulled behind the RV and transition into full-time RV life in early 2021! That was the plan until a month ago.
About a month ago, I was in the gym working out, and out of nowhere, I got this really loud message that we’re not supposed to do the RV thing full-time. Immediately, I’m like, “What the heck? Why? What do you want me to do, Universe?” At the same time, I knew it was the Universe I heard, so I said, “Okay, I hear you. But can I just get some sort of guidance? All our previous plans just kinda fell in our laps — they were easy — so this guidance feels weird.”
As I continued my workout, I heard, “What are your goals?” I knew the answer to that! Johnny’s 2021 goal is to double down on his podcast. My goal is to write my book. That’s when I hear this smart little laugh from my guides, “What do you need for those?” The first thought that came to be was, “We need to be grounded.” And the realization hit me: Full-time RV life would not give me the grounded space I needed to pour my heart into a book or Johnny the reliable Wi-Fi he needs for the next stage of his podcast.
When I explained it all to Johnny, he agreed. So the question was, “What now?” Our lease was up in April of 2021, and even though I am obsessed with our apartment — it is my literal Pinterest board dream apartment — we’re both ready to move on to something different. We just aren’t aligned with being in a city anymore.
We hopped on realtor.com and started looking at houses in North Carolina and Georgia, specifically places in the mountains. We found this stunning house. So, we bid over the asking price and were willing to purchase without seeing it. I was sure we would get it and started envisioning which room my office would be in, watching the dogs run around outside, and lounging in the sauna.
Then we got a call informing us that we didn’t get the house. I was heartbroken again. But we kept looking. Eventually, we bid on a few more places — not picturesque or anything, but they would do — only to have all the offers fall through.
How to Make It Through Disappointment
It finally got to the point where we had looked for houses in every town and city in North Carolina and Georgia, even some in Tennessee and Kentucky. Still, nothing felt right, and no contracts went through. Frustrated and a little curious, I zoomed out the map on realtor.com, broadening our search, and hit refresh. Instantly, I see this massive, inviting green home sitting amongst a beautiful lush forest. The overshot had a pond in its front yard and a long rock driveway.
I didn’t know where it was located, and I didn’t see any mountains as we wanted, but I knew it was our house. When I showed Johnny, he said, “It looks like we already live there.” The owners had similar furniture to us, a big white open kitchen, and lofted ceilings in the living room with huge windows, which was a non-negotiable for me. Knowing firsthand how fast houses like this move, we messaged the relator immediately. It was like 9:00 PM on a Friday, but three seconds later, we got a response, “Hey, can I FaceTime you tomorrow and give you a tour?”
She couldn’t have sent a more perfect response. During the FaceTime call, we became friends with the realtor, who was also the owner. She was a lovely Swedish lady who had just started building a house with her husband a few acres down.
Two days later, while I was at the gym, she texted and let us know that they had an open house planned for Saturday for two other interested families. As soon as I got home, I told Johnny, “I think we need to put an offer on that house. I just don’t want to lose this opportunity.”
The next day we called the owner and said, “We don’t want those people to come Saturday. We want to make an offer because we want the house.” And she responded with, “Can I be honest with you? I don’t want them to come either. I want you guys to buy the house.” Johnny and I looked at each other and smiled. So, we offered the asking price and got the ball rolling.
Lovely soul, do you see how the Universe used resistance to guide me to the house I needed and to a place that empowered me to step into the next version of myself? Yes, the resistance felt frustrating at the time, but without it, I would have been trying to live in an RV while writing a book and supporting Johnny with his podcast. We would have been in each other’s space all the time or exploring instead of fulfilling our life’s purpose. The journey is rarely what we expect, but the ending is always better than we could have imagined!
So, create space for yourself to receive, whether that’s going to the gym like me (actually, that’s a very unintentional way I receive, but it works), meditating, or going for walks. And then, be courageous enough to embrace and walk out whatever the guidance is directing.
Why You Need to Trust That Everything Is Happening for You
Here’s what I want you to take away from all this: Trust that everything is happening for you. Remember how I thought we were supposed to build our dream house and considered jumping into van life full time, only to end up with a home that was literally waiting for us? Every step along the way, I trusted and listened. As a result, I was able to experience all the good things the Universe had for me.
So my question for you is, how can you turn off that monkey mind and listen more? Your guides are always there to give you a push in the right direction. Answers and guidance are all around you. Are you looking and listening for them? Are you acknowledging your feelings so that you can honor them and receive from the Universe? Or are you so focused on the results that you aren’t giving the Universe any space to guide you?
I promise you, everything will work out in your favor. But you have to trust and let go of control. Big beautiful things are on their way to you, beautiful soul. So, when things aren’t going your way, just choose to trust. Trust. Trust. Trust. And then trust some more!
I hope you received some golden nuggets and mirrored experiences in this story today. If you did, please screenshot this and share it on Instagram. Tag me, @iamtaylorsimpson, and let me know what the big thing is that you’re trusting the Universe with!
I’m so excited for the next chapter in your journey because I know that wherever you’re at, you’ll be able to look back soon and say, “Touche, Universe, I see what you did there. Thank you for always guiding me.”
I see you. I honor you. And, as always, choose happiness because, well, why the fuck not?!
