If you’re doing life right, meaning you’re not out here doing crazy f**ksh!t, then you’ve probably noticed a pattern in your life each time you move up and/or on. Side note: not everybody wants to elevate to Oprah, Rihanna, Beyonce status (financially), or grow so advanced spiritually that you’re canonized. Whatever your vision of “leveling up” is, that’s all we’re talking about here, and you’ll still see these same signs if you’re paying attention. Let me know if you’ve noticed different patterns in your own life, or ones similar to these three. Oh, and at the end (no peeking!), there’s a little bonus sign for ya.

Sign #1: Your comfort zone just got a li’l less comfy

Have you ever seen a newborn being fed and partway through the feeding, they get so warm and cozy, they fall asleep before they get enough milk? You’d think it would be okay to just put the baby down and let ’em sleep, but that’s not it, fam. Nope. You have to finish feeding the little breathing Tamagotchi, but to keep them from falling back to sleep, you have to get them a little less cozy. It sounds mean, but, if you strip them down to their diaper, they’re not as warm anymore, so they wake up ready to keep eating. Then they can go night-night. Got it?

It’s like that, only it’s the Universe (or God, Buddha, E.T., Alf, Whoever) trying to strip you down to your proverbial diaper so you can wake up and eat! Metaphorically, of course. Think about it. Let’s say you’re too comfy in your dead-end job but it pays the bills and your coworkers don’t get on your nerves too much. It’s fine… until it isn’t. Suddenly, the boss starts riding your ass out of nowhere. Or the company’s becoming an unsteady-ass sinking ship and you don’t know when your turn on the chopping block is about to come up. Then, you start to remember that dream you had that you kept putting on the backburner, and your no-longer-comfy-zone is starting to light a fire under dat booty. Feel that? Uncomfortable, right? Because it’s level-up time and you got a wake up call courtesy of your Creator. You gonna answer that?

Sign #2: The unhealed start crashing out around you while the healed (or healing) start flocking to you, aka: Your Circle Is Changing

This one is like Discomfort Zone 2.0, but instead of your overall situation changing, the people in your life (even ones you’re not close to) start shifting. It’s too hard to ignore. As you begin to grow, evolve, and mature (i.e., become a G.E.M., bling), anyone not on the same or similar path begins crashing out, acting out, and attempting to take you out. Okay, that last one was dramatic AF, but what I mean is, they start exhibiting crab-in-a-barrel behavior and try to stop you from elevating. They try any and everything to get you to stay the same, or even get you out of character. I don’t think I need to give any goofy examples. You’ve been there. It doesn’t have to be friends and family either. Anyone who’s “unhealed” from any past traumas and unwilling to take a look at themselves and grow will find reasons and tactics to get you to stay on their level. You can have only so much compassion and empathy for them, but you cannot let them hold you back. That’s not your assignment, Captain Save-a-Bro! If they want to get on your level, they have to do the work, whatever that looks like for them.

On the flip side, the folx who are also on their own level-up journeys or who have recently Grew/Evolved/Matured don’t try to dim your sparkle. Instead, not only do they encourage you to keep sparkling, they want to bask in your bling with no hidden agendas. GEMs recognize other GEMs. IRL, even crystals literally grow from the surface of existing crystals. They literally “soak up each other’s awesomeness” (Mean Girls movie reference)!

Here’s a quote that gives great advice related to this sign: “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” –Mark Twain

Last but not least, Sign #3: You Start Manifesting Random Stuff Until the Big Stuff Comes

The first time I noticed this as a sign of a level-up, I remembered that I began getting things I randomly “asked” for. Once, I wanted crepes out of nowhere, didn’t even say it out loud, and a friend suggested we all get crepes from a place super close to the office that I didn’t even know was there. It was as if she’d read my mind.

Soon after that, I was approved for an apartment I really wanted. Then, the craziest “manifestation” happened. An obscure band I had fallen in love with who I never thought I’d see in person just happened to be playing at the concert hall just two L stops from my then-apartment a few days before my birthday. I bought the super-affordable ticket immediately, and though I had gone alone, I had a blast! The biggest level-up happened not too long afterwards: I landed my dream job that I’d wanted for a few years. It just randomly became available exactly when I needed it.

The following year, the same cycle happened just before I moved abroad to teach English in South Korea. And then again when I moved back to Chicago. It’s happening again now, and though I can’t talk about the process while I’m in the midst of it, I can say that signs #1 through 3 have been appearing in that specific order…. 😉

Okay, as promised, here’s the “Bonus” Sign you’re leveling up: Your taste in the people you like/date changes.

That one was actually kind of mind-blowing to me. Even though I’d witnessed it happen to friends and relatives, I didn’t even know that was a thing until it began to happen to me. My current “crush” is so different from my usual “type” that it made me do a double-take. But it actually makes sense if you think about it. We attract who we are, not necessarily physically, but internally. When you start to level up, your tolerance for the walking-talking red flags goes way down. Once you start to see your own worth, you begin attracting and interacting with the ones who are also leveled up, or in the process of a level-up. GEMs attract GEMs.

Bling!

K, happy leveling up, thanks for reading, bye!

~Leigh~