The People the Universe Puts in Your Path: Why Every Encounter Matters

Laura Gates
Dec 19, 2025
6 min read

We made it past episode 10. Only about 8% of podcasts make it this far, so join me in celebrating. But more importantly, let's talk about why certain people show up in our lives exactly when we need them, and what happens when we're brave enough to say "Glastonbury" to a stranger.

The Woman Who Rejected My Train Seat

I was on a train from London to Glastonbury, heading to my first spiritual retreat there. In London, you buy your ticket at Paddington Station and get a reserved seat.

I was sitting in my window seat when a woman approached, looked at her ticket number, looked at me, then looked around the practically empty train car.

She mumbled something like "I'm not sitting here. There's a whole empty car. I'm gonna go sit by myself."

I felt a little rejected. Though honestly, I probably would've done the same thing.

Thirty minutes later, I arrived at the train station about 30 minutes from downtown Glastonbury. I walked out thinking, okay universe, guide me on how I'm getting there.

And standing in front of me, putting her suitcase into a taxi, was the same woman who'd walked away from the train seat.

I caught her eye. She looked at me. I had to push myself to be willing to be rejected again.

I walked up to her. At the same time, we both said: "Glastonbury."

"I'd be happy to share a cab with you," she said.

That was the start of the most delightful conversation. We spent the entire day together, going to different spiritual sites, walking up a gigantic hill to the tower. We found many commonalities. I'd bought a ticket for an event she attended the night before in London that I ended up not able to attend. It was a last-minute decision for her to hop on that train from London where she was visiting for the event. So may synchronicities!

One WhatsApp exchange since then. But that day was our experience to support each other.

Why First Impressions Lie

This is what Season 2 of Surrendering to the Signs is about: the people the universe puts in our path. Sometimes for five minutes. Sometimes for a lifetime.

In Season 2, you're going to hear from Jana, who I met on Facebook and then discovered we'd actually met 10 years earlier at a conference. From Tim, who I knew in high school, reconnected with later in life, and who's sharing his vulnerable story of hitting rock bottom and coming through recovery. From Nancy, who I met at a business conference where she was saying things about spirituality from the stage that completely stunned me.

But here's what I want you to understand: we can't let first impressions stop us from connecting with people.

We never know what a person's purpose is in our life.

The Client Who Started as a Difficult Encounter

I was in Newark airport late at night when I got a text from a new client. I'd missed a deadline. He was not happy.

I was emotional about it. I'd been with an organization for 20 years, was trying to build my own business, and this newer client was upset with me.

I opened a book I'd just bought at the airport bookstore: Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith.

Reading the first paragraph, I realized: the client had been triggered. I had been triggered by the client being triggered.

I went to Marshall's website, saw he was teaching a workshop on Stakeholder Centered Coaching, and I signed up.

At that workshop in Silicon Valley, I had a difficult encounter with someone during a role play. It wasn't fun. He was kind of tough. He later apologized and we fixed the dynamic.

A couple weeks later, I was at a Wisdom 2.0 event. That same person approached me: "Hey, I'd love to put your name forward for this global tech company that's looking for coaches. Can I do that?"

I said sure.

That led to a client I've had for almost 10 years now. A client that has given me tremendous work, growth, and learning.

I could have written that encounter off. Never connected with that person again.

Instead, I saw him as a human being. Put myself in his shoes. Built the relationship.

You just never know.

The Night I Met My Husband

Nearly ten years after my divorce, I woke up one morning thinking: I'm good. I think I could live life as a single person. I think I'm gonna stop trying this thing called dating.

That night, I bumped into someone on the dance floor.

It turned out to be the person I married.

The universe is conspiring on your behalf. Always.

What to Ask When You Meet Someone

This week, I left my house almost every day. Coffee. Lunch. Tours. A mentoring group. One of those weeks where I met a lot of new people in person.

That feeling of spark. Of "we're here to teach something to each other, share something with each other, support each other."

I want to encourage you: when you encounter people, go beyond the usual social pleasantries.

Ask yourself: Why are we meeting? What is the universe trying to teach me or show me with this encounter?

And understand: these are not always positive encounters. (As my earlier stories here illustrate!)

I had a difficult interaction a couple weeks ago. I had to look in the mirror and ask: What was my part in this? How did I contribute? What would I do differently going forward?

I called on my support system. Not to take my side. Not to tell me I was a victim.

But to help me see something I wasn't seeing. To help me learn. To help me grow.

The Tap on the Shoulder vs. The Two by Four

How many of us have heard stories where people say: "It's in the moments of pain, of difficulty, of suffering that I learned the most"?

I can certainly say the same.

Although I love to say to the universe: I prefer the tap on the shoulder versus the two by four.

So maybe we all get the tap on the shoulder. And sometimes the tap on the shoulder feels like it IS a two by four.

But getting that perspective, looking at these experiences as learning moments, looking back and saying "Wow, okay, it was hard in the moment, but I got through it" is everything.

In getting through it, I've learned tons about myself. About others. About how to forgive. About how to see others as the fallible humans they are, just doing the best they can with what they've got.

And I truly believe: the majority of us are really just doing the best we can with the circumstances we came from, the backgrounds we've had, the ways we were raised.

Our task is: How do we see beyond that? How do we see the true human for who they are and bolster each other up?

A Permission Slip for This Season

I'm recording this right after Thanksgiving. I had to cancel Thanksgiving this year because I woke up with a sore throat.

Even though I was hosting, even though I thought I should power through, even though I felt guilty as the good daughter, the oldest daughter…. All the shoulds!

I canceled it.

The minute I canceled, my whole body relaxed.

This is important as we go into the winter solstice and the holiday season: How do we see this as a time of taking care of ourselves? Nourishing ourselves? Healing ourselves from the crazy year many of us have had?

Give yourself a chance to reset before the new year starts.

Maybe look at the holidays differently. Less to-dos. Less shoulds. More time being. More time sitting, reading a book, taking a hike, going to the gym.

Find the time and spaciousness to sink into this time of year.

Nature has cycles. Cycles of downshifting and hibernating and integrating. Letting all the things that happened this year settle before we embark on the new thing.

Don't pressure yourself to have some goal or word on January 1st.

Take this time to slow down. To rest deeply.

My Invitation

I invite you to join me on this journey in Season 2. Pay attention to the people the universe puts on your path. The woman who rejects your train seat might become your companion for the day. The difficult encounter might lead to your biggest client. The morning you decide to stop dating might be the night you meet your person.

The universe is always conspiring on your behalf.

You just have to be brave enough to say "Glastonbury."

Join us for Season 2 of "Surrendering to the Signs" to hear conversations with Jana Hendrickson about parallel paths and the pull that guides us, Tim Winters on his journey through recovery and the spiritual awakening he didn't expect, and Nancy Larocca on bringing spirituality into the business world and Joel Kimmel who has visited the other side and lived to tell about it! Listen wherever you get your podcasts.