It was a sun-faded Tuesday in a forgotten town off the coast of Sri Lanka.
I’d just stepped out of a tuk-tuk wondering, are coincidences really coincidences, or just patterns we only notice when life slows down.
That’s when I spotted graffiti scrawled across a crumbling cement wall:
“You’re exactly where you’re meant to be.”
Same line.
Same handwriting.
Same red paint as a wall I’d seen in San Francisco… three years earlier.
That was Coincidence #18. I wrote down all 33.
I’m Andy Force—researcher, traveler, and the guy people call when life starts whispering in strange, impossible patterns.
I’ve spent two decades tracking what others call “coincidences,” and this story cracked something wide open.
Wanna know why signs show up when they do?
Also explore symbols and spiritual signs if you’re chasing synchronicities that feel too sharp to ignore.
Top Takeaways
Before we go any further, here are 5 surprising insights about coincidences you’ll want to keep in your back pocket forever:
- Coincidences follow emotional spikes – We notice strange overlaps most when we’re vulnerable, not logical.
- Synchronicities hit like déjà vu – They’re not random patterns, but moments when your inner world collides with your outer one.
- Signs get louder in motion – Major life shifts attract meaningful winks—if you’re paying attention.
- My personal take – Like a postcard that found me in Lisbon, true signs often come dressed in normal clothes, not neon.
- Intuition leads, logic follows – Gut hits often register truth before the mind can name it—trust the spark before the spiral.
The Science Behind Coincidences: Patterns in Chaos
Some say everything happens for a reason.
Statisticians say it’s just math.
Here’s what blew my mind: the more data you gather, the more “coincidences” you’ll see.
That’s not magic—it’s the Law of Truly Large Numbers.
If you meet 10,000 people, odds are, one shares your birthday and your childhood pet’s name.
Doesn’t mean fate’s handwriting is on your forehead.
Psychologist Bernard Beitman—who coined “coincidence junkie”—explains that we’re wired to spot meaningful coincidences, especially when our emotional life is heightened.
This makes perfect sense: we’re pattern-recognition machines, not probability calculators.
Still, when that dream of your ex’s blue sweater shows up the next morning—on a stranger at the airport—it’s hard to chalk it up to randomness.
But maybe that’s the point.
This is also why people feel shaken when running into someone they’re thinking of or when patterns start forming during chaotic times.
Key Takeaway:
Some coincidences are explainable through statistics, but our brains are meaning-hungry—and that’s what gives them power.
Tip:
Track odd overlaps for 2 weeks—you’ll start to see whether it’s frequency illusion or something deeper guiding your focus.
Synchronicity: When the Universe Speaks
Carl Jung didn’t believe in “just” coincidences.
He believed in synchronicity—the concurrence of events that feel meaningful, even without causal connection.
That’s what separates “I dreamed of a black cat, then saw one” from “I dreamed of my dead aunt’s voice, and her favorite song started playing.”
It hits you differently.
Your chest tightens.
You feel like someone—or something—is gently tapping your shoulder.
I started noticing this in my own life during transitions.
Breakups, moves, job leaps.
That’s when synchronicity and serendipity flood in, like clues dropped by your subconscious… or maybe something bigger.
Scientists like David Hand (The Atlantic) argue it’s all randomness dressed up in coincidence stories.
But deep down, we know when something feels too exact to dismiss.
That’s when I started tuning in.
Key Takeaway:
Synchronicity frames coincidences not as chance, but as signals—reflections of your inner world aligning with your outer one.
Tip:
Slow down during major life shifts; synchronicities speak loudest when you’re in motion or choosing new paths.
The Letter That Changed Everything
It was a gray Lisbon morning, and I’d just stepped out of a meeting when a barista handed me a postcard-style flyer.
“Thought you might like this,” he said, with a shrug.
It was for a local event happening that night—some kind of pop-up on Rua da Misericórdia with LA-themed visuals.
The graphic?
A hazy palm tree skyline and, in bold black text:
“Your job isn’t to find meaning. Your job is to recognize it.”
I stood there for a minute, holding it like it had personally followed me across continents.
That line was something my mentor once told me in Los Angeles—right after I nearly signed away a project that didn’t align with who I was becoming, even though I felt an unshakable connection to the opportunity.
That morning in Lisbon, I’d finally walked away from a shiny offer that felt wrong in my bones.
I don’t believe in magic thinking—but I’ve learned to respect spiritual luck signals that show up like this one did.
And that one hit different.
Key Takeaway:
Even small, promotional things can deliver messages that strike your inner truth with precise timing.
Tip:
Stay open to unexpected messengers—guidance can land anywhere, especially when your emotional life is in motion.
Are Signs Real or Just Coincidences?
We’ve all done it—seen 11:11 on the clock three days in a row and wondered, Is the universe flirting with me?
But here’s what’s real: the brain filters 11 million bits of data a second, but you only consciously process 50.
So when something cuts through that noise, especially in emotionally loaded moments—it feels divine.
That doesn’t make it fake.
That makes it personal.
And science has a name for this: frequency illusion (thanks, Arnold Zwicky).
Once your brain tags something emotionally relevant, it starts scanning for it—like seeing yellow cars everywhere after you decide to buy one.
But frequency isn’t the full story.
When signs from the universe line up with real-time events—calls, dreams, gut feelings—that’s a pattern worth paying attention to.
Even skeptics admit: it’s often the timing, not the thing itself, that feels like a wink from the cosmos.
Key Takeaway:
Signs are real when they matter to you—your awareness gives them power, not the other way around.
Tip:
Pay attention to what repeats around strong emotions—your subconscious might be spotlighting a message your mind hasn’t caught up to.
The Role of Intuition in Recognizing Coincidences
You know that weird gut feeling that hits you before something happens?
Science calls it somatic marker hypothesis—your body flags information before your mind connects the dots.
It’s why you hesitate before taking a call that ends in bad news, or why you randomly think of someone right before they text.
When coincidences feel charged—like, heart thud, hair-raise, world-goes-quiet charged—it’s not just your brain spotting patterns.
It’s your intuition stepping in.
Most of the time, we overlook these coincidental events because they seem small—buried in the noise of daily life.
But if something hits both your nervous system and your thoughts? That’s the kind of experience of coincidence worth noting.
Cognitive science shows we often process patterns emotionally before we can explain them logically.
That’s why I tell clients: intuition is often your first responder.
Some even use tools like a trusted live tarot reading 👈 to clarify those “I feel something’s off” moments—especially when logic falls short.
Key Takeaway:
Coincidences often register through intuition first. Your body knows what your conscious mind hasn’t processed yet.
Tip:
Practice tuning into your first reaction—not the overthinking loop that comes after. That initial spark usually tells the truth.
A Chance Encounter in Kyoto
I was walking past Nishiki Market in Kyoto when I saw a man sketching a map on rice paper.
Not just any map—a replica of a 1798 merchant route I’d once obsessed over, back when I was writing a now-abandoned travel memoir.
I stopped.
He looked up.
We started talking.
Twenty minutes later, he invited me to an exhibition featuring rare cartography.
Three weeks later, we launched a project that now funds fieldwork for under-resourced geographers.
That wasn’t just a coincidence. It was alignment.
We’d both been working silently on the same niche project for years, unaware of the karmic signs that show up to align paths when the time is right.
But only by following a nudge—a simple stroll down a street I hadn’t planned—did our paths cross.
You could call it a random moment.
Or you could call it a door the universe had been quietly unlocking for years.
Key Takeaway:
When you follow your intuitive nudges—especially the subtle ones—you open yourself to experiences your logical brain couldn’t plan.
Tip:
If something feels oddly timed and oddly specific, lean in. It might be a door disguised as a detour.
Do Coincidences Happen for a Reason?
Some people believe the universe is random.
Others think it’s a spreadsheet coded in destiny.
I land somewhere in the messy middle.
Here’s what I’ve learned: coincidences don’t make sense. They make meaning.
Whether you believe in divine guidance, soul contracts, or just complex math, what matters is this—you assign the meaning, and the meaning shapes you.
Some clients ask me, “Andy, was that breakup really a sign?” or “Was seeing that owl four times just a weird thing?”
I don’t give them answers.
I give them space to notice how it felt.
Because the truth is: reason doesn’t always come in explanation form.
Sometimes, it shows up in a dream, a lyric, or a stranger who says exactly what you needed to hear.
If you want clarity but can’t coach with me 1-on-1, my most trusted go-to is a live tarot reading 👈 with someone who reads not just cards, but people.
I send clients there when timing matters.
Key Takeaway:
Whether or not coincidences happen for a reason, the meaning you assign them can reroute your choices—and your future.
Tip:
Use life’s odd overlaps as prompts. Ask: “What might this be asking me to see or choose differently?”
The Dream That Predicted Reality
Three years ago, I had a dream so specific I wrote it down in detail.
A yellow tram. A silver coffee tin. A woman with a spiral tattoo.
I’d never seen them before.
Five months later, I was in Zagreb, Croatia—on a whim—and there it was:
The tram. The coffee tin. The woman.
We never spoke.
But she smiled like we’d already met.
That’s when I stopped arguing with the mystery.
Some call this a glitch in the simulation, others call it a spiritual download.
I just know it cracked open something in me I’d been too busy to feel.
I shared that story during a dream interpretation deep dive, and one reader called it “the first time she realized she wasn’t crazy.”
That hit home.
Key Takeaway:
Some coincidences can’t be explained—and that might be the point. They stretch us into new possibilities we didn’t know we were ready for.
Tip:
Write down vivid dreams. Revisit them monthly. You’ll be stunned by how many echo into waking life.
Conclusion: Embracing the Mystery
I’ve tracked 33 of these so-called “coincidences” across 12 countries.
And the most honest thing I can say?
They weren’t all magical. But the ones that were… changed me.
Some were probably statistical noise.
Others felt like coded messages only I could hear.
And that’s the quiet truth: coincidences meet you where you are.
The more open you are, the louder they get.
So maybe it’s not about figuring out what’s real.
Maybe it’s about choosing to be the kind of person who listens—just in case the universe is actually whispering something brilliant.
Thanks for reading. If something in this sparked a memory or gave you pause, I’d love to hear your story too.
