In the mid-1980’s, pre-iTunes, and pre-internet, and at a time when information was not a keystroke away, I would listen to a Latin music station on the stereo system that rested atop the large dresser in my bedroom. My favorite part of the program was the closing, when the DJ would give his sign-off in Spanish and play a beautiful instrumental song. Although I did not understand what he said, it didn’t matter. The intonation of his voice was so heartfelt, and the chosen tune so hopeful, I just knew he was wishing me well.

After one show, the DJ ended the program with a song that was so hauntingly beautiful it became an “earworm,” a song I couldn’t get out of my head.  He must have acknowledged the name of it and the artist, but it went past me. I became obsessed with this song; I just had to know its name. I phoned the radio station headquartered in Paterson, NJ, explained the information I was seeking, and met with a round of attempts to connect me to the right department until my call disconnected somewhere along the chain. I continued to listen to the program for weeks after without success. The song evaded me.

Without the help of modern-day technology, I found myself walking into small Mom & Pop records stores in Greenwich Village in NYC, trying to warble the melody in my terribly off-key voice, in a determined attempt to identify it. Embarrassment was the last thing I cared about; I was on a mission. After what felt like too many exercises in futility, I shrugged it off as something that was not meant to be. Still, I thought of it as the most beautiful song I had ever heard.

One weekday morning thirty-plus years later, now living in southern California, I was sitting on a remote section of a Los Angeles beach gazing into what I refer to as a “Land of Oz” backdrop, the type of day where the colors of the sky and the horizon blend, saturated in pixels of high definition.  While enjoying the peace and sunshine that washed over me, and meditating on my future, I opened the YouTube app on my phone, setting it to auto-play to enjoy some instrumental background music.  

Ten minutes into the playlist, as I watched the playful dolphins somersault in the distance and contemplating if I was where I was meant to be at this point in my life, the hauntingly beautiful song that had eluded me for decades, came on. In a suspended moment of both excitement and disbelief, I carefully looked down at the screen and there it was, the elusive melody: “Piano” by the late, great composer Bebu Silvetti.

I turned the volume up as loudly as my ears could manage and continued to stare into the ocean, thanking God repeatedly, not only for finally disclosing the song’s identity, but for confirming to me, in a supernatural sense, that yes, I was exactly where I was meant to be in this part of my journey. Since then, “Piano” has become a favorite I’ve repeatedly played, never tiring of, that allows me to drift into that comfortable space in my mind where boundless dreams and the anticipation of future happiness exist.

A few years after that magical morning, I came face-to-face with a cancer diagnosis. As shocking and devastating as it was for my mind to absorb that reality, and my body to endure the accompanying treatments, there was a quiet assurance inside of me that knew I was in the right place at the right time to navigate this trial.  The battle has been tough and debilitating at times, but the California sunshine, the steadfast warmth, and as I choose to believe, the prescient dolphins who enjoy nothing more than conveying joy, were there to provide encouragement.

The paradox of life is that we are granted both free-will and a predestined fate in the years gifted to us. Our Creator understood this long before we entered the world and gave us a spiritual GPS system called intuition to guide us through. We may not be able to escape all the lessons and circumstances we came to experience, but we can choose to honor ourselves and consciously flourish with greater awareness by listening to this guiding voice within. 

And, on those occasions when we are smack dab in “the zone,” that sweet spot of awareness of all things in perfect order, and the appreciation of this great offering, the Universe will reward us with an unmistakable and glorious sign.