I had the most amazing experience tonight and I wanted to share it and find out if you've ever had something similar happen or if you believe in this kind of stuff.

As background, I'm quite possibly the least spiritual person in my acquaintance. Anyway, as some of you know I've been in a pretty dark place emotionally over the last few weeks. It started with falling off plan and ended with depression, binging, and an all-time low opinion of myself. I haven't wanted to do anything but eat and sleep, so aside from work, I've been holed up in my house.

Late last night, a good friend of mine called and told me that another friend of hers had something come up and could not attend the musical Wicked with her tonight. She wanted to know if I wanted to go with her. I came up with half a dozen excuses for why I couldn't go because I had plans to stay home and feel sad (didn't tell her that). I finally stopped myself and said yes before I knew what had happened.

So off we went. We hadn't planned where to have dinner and just went into the first nice restaurant we could find. They were full, but had two seats left at the bar. One of the bartenders (a very thin pretty girl -- aren't they all?!) took our drink and dinner order. We didn’t interact much with her at all, but she kept looking at me almost like she was trying to figure something out in her mind. At the end of the meal, she handed us the bill and said that she had something to tell me after I signed the receipt and whatever I did, I must not leave until she had a chance to talk to me.

My friend and I were dying with curiosity. I signed the check and a million possibilities were running through my head. Foremost in my mind was that I was in trouble. Don't ask me why -- I think the same thing when my boss asks if I "have a minute." I'm always sure I'm getting sacked.

She finally came over. She said that she didn't know if I believe in this sort of thing, but she needed to tell me that I had one of the greatest spirits she'd ever seen in a person and that it comes through as a warmth in my smile more than any person she'd ever seen. She said that from the moment I sat down she could sense it and knew in her heart that I needed to hear it. She went on to say that she feels things, hears them as voices and thinks of it as angels talking to her and she knew without a doubt that she was meant to communicate it to me. She finished by saying that she had a very good feeling about what I could do when I realized how strong I was. She then said that she wanted to make sure the bill was settled before she told me so I wouldn't think she had anything to gain and then she walked away. It was one of those moments where I wish I could have recorded the conversation, because as I write it, I'm not capturing nearly well enough what really happened. As she was talking to us, both my friend and I started crying, mouths agape, and my hair stood on end. My friend kept saying, "you have no idea how much she needed to hear that right now."

The bartender didn't know me from any other stranger. She didn’t know how bad I've been feeling lately about myself (I think I hide it pretty well in public), didn't know that my friend and I had a long talk on the car ride over about it and a couple of other things that have been troubling me lately. When we left the restaurant, my friend looked at me and said what had just happened was a gift and if I didn’t do something with it I was wasting it.

So then we’re in the musical and there is this song and the lyrics are:

I’ve heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don’t know if I believe that’s true
But I know I’m who I am today
Because I knew you...

My friend and I looked at each other in shock and we started to cry again. I feel like her friend was meant to back out of going, I was meant to go despite my strong urges to stay home, I was meant to meet that bartender, and meant to hear those lyrics. I cried all the way home. Do you think I’m crazy and am reading into these coincidences? Or did something special happen to me that I’d be crazy to ignore?

ok, i am crying as i read your post and write this. it touched me so much that you just have to believe you were where you were for a reason. i dont know if i consider myself highly spiritual but i will share this with you...
i have lost 6 babies to miscarriage. all of them well into my second trimester when i thought i had passed that point of worry. i was feeling their movement in my belly. after each and every loss i have had "spiritual" moments. i have seen lights floating at the window, had vivid dreams i swear were real, even felt touches from what i believed to me MY angels, my 4 little girls and 2 little boys. i suffer terribly each time i miscarry but my spiritual moments are what give me peace. they come to me each and every time and let me know that my angels are safe and that i will be okay too because they are okay.
Your night sounds like something really touched you inside and I hope you take with you whatever it is you need to get going on your lifestyle change. Sometimes God or whoever is in charge up there works in mysterious ways. I am a stronger person for all I have been through and you can be too. Take this moment and seize it for all its worth. You can do it!!!!

Kim

Wow....very powerful....

Oh wow Cecily. That is very powerful and I always believe everything happens for a reason--both good and bad. Many times we don't know why when it does.

It sounds like it was just what you needed to get you out of your slump. I commend the bartender for doing that. Most people, even if they felt like she did, would just chalk it up to something weird and never say anything.

To me it just shows that when you put yourself out there you never know what amazing things can happen to suddenly change your outlook. Life can change on a dime...be true to yourself and live life to the fullest every chance you get.

All I can say is...WOW! I for one do not believe in coincidence. God put us on this earth for a reason, and He puts people and experiences in our lives for a reason. Sometimes He has to throw a brick to get our attention. Sounds like you just got hit by a brick, girlie! Take this miracle that you've been given...you deserve it, and you are WORTH IT!

Hugs!

M'Chelle

Normally I'm rather skeptical of unexplained things and doubtful of fate, destiny and paranormal activity, but I always have to re-examine my position when I hear stories such as this. I guess what is ultimately important is how it affects YOU. If you choose to believe in it and it is the push you need to change your life for the better, or if you derive great comfort and ease of mind because of these happenings, then it should be treated as a wonderful phenomenon.

Yes, I think it was something special--if only that it's given you a nudge and got you thinking.

I consider myself to be somewhat spiritual, though not in the traditional sense. I've never believed in ghosties, fate, or other "weird stuff", but experience and honest self-examination led me to the conclusion that things seem to appear to me just when I need them*; it's up to me to recognise and make something of them. These things are not always what I want (which is why I haven't always taken heed! ), but what I need.

Your experience sounds to me like a clear message. I hope you take her words to heart.

*Whether it comes from within myself, or there's something outside of me driving it is open for debate. It makes no difference to me either way --the result is the same.

Cecily,
What an incredible night!
I absolutely believe in those strange, life changing moments and have had a few in my time...not related to a stranger though!

I would say take it all in...gather all your strength...and and move on from here, stronger and more powerful than ever before!

All my love,
Linda

Always remember that moment and how you felt in the car and at the musical. Use it to power yourself through the next time you're in a state of depression.

Thanks for sharing your story.

Wow. Thanks for sharing that. I do think that there are people with gifts like hers- and that not enough of them share the way that she did. It must have been just what you needed during your stressful time.

It's just what you needed!