Trust Life...and Let the Coconut Fall
Every so often, this silly little coconut story comes up in conversation with one of my longtime Disney friends. And truthfully, it never fails to make us laugh—and remind me of something deeper. This week, it came back to me in a way that felt timely, so I’m sharing it here in case you need a reminder too: Life always provides—often in surprising, even ridiculous ways.
Let’s rewind to January 2016. Madonna was on her Rebel Heart Tour, and my friend flew down to South Florida so we could catch the show together (yes, the same friend who came down for her amazing Celebration Tour last year.) At the time, I was living in a second-floor apartment in Ft. Lauderdale with a view of swaying palm trees outside my window. It was a breezy weekend, and the trees were heavy with coconuts.
My optimistic, city-dwelling friend became obsessed with those coconuts. He was convinced the palm tree would drop one for him before he left. But despite the strong wind and his strong intention, those coconuts clung tightly to their branches. They weren't going anywhere.
After he left, I kept watch, waiting for one to fall so I could mail it to him as a fun surprise. I waited. And waited. Nothing. Two months passed. Now and then, he’d text me with a playful request for a “coconut update.” Every time I'd answer, "Not yet." Those were some stubborn coconuts.
Then came Easter—and with it, a box of homemade cookies from my sister. And wouldn’t you know it? The box was the perfect size for a coconut. I held onto it for a while, still waiting for nature to cooperate. Eventually, I gave up and recycled the box. The coconuts weren’t budging, and I was tired of that empty reminder sitting by my door.
Two days later, it finally happened! A branch snapped off during a powerful thunderstorm, and a lovely bunch of coconuts dropped to the ground beneath my window.
The timing was hilarious. Just one day earlier, my friend had joked that “Waiting for the Coconut to Fall” would make a great title for his memoir. I agreed, but now I regretted recycling that perfect box. I had a plethora of coconuts, but no way to send one.
But life wasn’t done surprising me yet. A few days later, I found myself in the baking aisle of the grocery store, chasing down ingredients for a sudden cookie craving, when a stock clerk set down a box of sugar packets right beside me. I couldn’t believe it. That box was even more perfect than the one I had recycled. And the clerk was more than happy to give me the box once he finished restocking the sugar packets. It was like the universe said, “I’ve got you.”
It was a beautiful reminder that everything is unfolding perfectly. I may not be able to control the timing of life, but when I trust, allow, and stay open, life will deliver. Sometimes it takes a storm. Sometimes it takes a cookie craving. But the help always comes.
There's one more hopeful ingredient to this story that I’d like to share. I hadn’t lived in that apartment long before the concert or the cookie craving. Sadly, I did not have a mixing bowl or a cookie sheet to make those cookies, but something told me to look in the drawer under the oven.
To my delight, the previous tenant had left behind just two items in that drawer: a glass casserole dish and a cookie sheet. The casserole dish was deep enough to use as a mixing bowl, and I’m still baking on that cookie sheet almost 10 years later! Thanks, previous tenant! Once again, life had miraculously provided the perfect tools when I needed them.
So if you’re in a season of waiting—waiting for clarity, for answers, for healing, for that metaphorical coconut to fall—I want to share with you something one of my spiritual teachers shared with me years ago:
There is no urgency in Spirit.
No part of the river rushes past another to reach the ocean. It all arrives right on time. Even when it doesn’t feel like it, everything is unfolding in Divine Timing. I have been reminding myself of this Truth a lot lately!
Are you having trouble trusting and allowing life to bring you what you need? I would be honored to assist you with a series of Spiritual Coaching Sessions or a Family Constellations Session. Both are great ways to help you shift your perspective so things can start flowing again. Please look around my website to learn more or to book a session.
Until next time, I encourage you to trust life. Laugh often. And let that coconut fall in its own time. It might just land where you least expect it… right in your lap.
You cannot but be in the right place at the right time.
A Course in Miracles ~ W-42.2:4