Life is a highway of intersections.

Let me explain. 

The definition of intersection is:

A point at which two or more things intersect. 

Everything intersects. 

Roads

Places

People

Projects

DNA 

Flavors

Sounds 

History

Culture

Feelings 

At times even the sun and the moon intersect.

And at every single instance where there is an intersection, we have signals that give us directions. 

We have traffic lights on life’s highway. 

What do these traffic lights do? 

They assign and control the flow of traffic and give us guidance. 

Red light: Stop

Yellow light: Proceed with caution

Greenlight: Go 

Everything in your life is impacted by these signals and traffic lights, whether you realize it or not. 

Didn’t get the job you wanted? Red light. 

Your timeline is behind schedule and your *plans* are not going as planned? Yellow light. 

The right person appears at the right time with the *exact* information you needed? Greenlight. 

Every single moment and experience you are having is being guided by one of these traffic lights. 

So what do they mean?

RED LIGHTS

This light stops you. 

This signal comes to redirect you. 

Not this path. Not this person. Not this job. 

The door closes. 

The season ends. 

Are red lights bad? No. 

They can be gifts. 

They jolt us out of our sleep and move us onto the path that is right for us, right now. 

They can set us free. 

Red lights wake us up. They guide us to a new destination. They alert us. Often they reroute us. 

Sometimes a red light is the end of a period, chapter, season, experience, adventure. It signals that it’s time for something new. 

So why do we get so jolted by red lights? 

At times, we do not see them coming. 

At other times, we deny that we know they are coming. 

Am I in control of my life? 

Red lights make us aware that we are not in control. 

Then again, we are not alone on life’s highway, even though it is our journey. Everything is constantly intersecting. 

How can we possibly control a journey that is interconnected and intersected by so many things? In truth, we don’t. 

So how do we act when confronted with a red light? 

This part IS in our control. 

The way we frame the experience of the red light….

The story we tell ourselves about it……

The narrative we have while being rerouted and stopped….

All of these are within our control. 

A red light tells us (whether we like it or not) that our path is shifting and changing. 

When confronted with a red light here are some thoughts on what to do:

• Neutralize the feelings around the red light
• Accept the situation
• Trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be 
• Know that everything is happening for you
• Practice gratitude for being redirected 
• Remind yourself that this is *only* a stop in your journey, this isn’t your entire journey 
• Approach the experience with curiosity and wonder 

Surely a new path, a new experience, a new opportunity, a new possibility will arrive in time (it always does)…… 

Looking back in my life, every single red light that I have encountered eventually showed itself to be a blessing. 

The red lights I have experienced in my life have changed me. 

The change occurred both internally and externally, and at times were both. 

September 5th, 2014: I was working too much. Exhausted. Drained. Totally unhappy with my life and yet consumed with work as an excuse to avoid myself. I was making great money. And I knew I wasn’t on the right path. Then I suffered a freak accident. Sitting at dinner one night in NYC’s Soho Neighborhood, I couldn’t feel my left foot. Multiple x-rays and MRI’s later concluded that I had torn a ligament in my foot. The metaphor of life trying to stop me, quite literally taking my ability to walk away from me, was not lost on me. And yet, I didn’t do anything differently. Faced with months in a boot and with crutches, I threw myself harder into work. What else was I going to do? What social life could I possibly have in NYC with crutches and a boot? What dreams could I even entertain or follow? 

January 5th, 2015: The company that I was working for abruptly shut down with no prior warning. I was shocked, scared, and confused. Now there was no way to continue avoiding myself by throwing myself into my work. For the first time in ten years, I found myself without a job, and with no work to hide in anymore. RED LIGHT. 

There is no regret over life’s redirections.

They led me to exactly where I am right now. 

And here is the thing we all need to remember: red lights are inevitable. 

They are a part of our experience and journey. 

So why not embrace them as the opportunities they are? 

They serve a purpose. They are guiding forces for each of us. And they can reroute us on the most magical journeys if we embrace and accept them for what they are. 

My 2015 red light changed my life. Finding myself unemployed for the first time in 10 years gave me the space to actually start to question my life, my choices, what I truly valued, and how I wanted to live my life. That red light eventually gave birth to my first business and set me on a totally new path and course in my life. Looking back, I understand that while I didn’t get the message in September 2014 to slow down, I sure got it when I found myself unemployed suddenly in January 2015. When work was taken from me abruptly, I got the message loud and clear. And I am forever grateful for that. 

The key to the red light is to honor the stop. Not to force or push or deny or fall into the emotions of fear, worry, and doubt. 

Actually let yourself stop, so that you can be rerouted. 

It might happen instantly or it might take some time for your destination to be rerouted. 

In my case, the idea to start my own business didn’t fully form for several months after I lost my job. 

Give yourself the time and embrace the space that you receive from the red lights. 

But what happens when it’s not actually a red light? 

What happens when we think we are at a stop and life doesn’t actually reroute us…. It merely asks us to wait, to pause, to have a momentary delay on our path? 

YELLOW LIGHTS

At first, this light challenges you. 

It doesn’t stop you. 

It doesn’t give you the speed or movement you want.

It feels like sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. 

You realize you are moving….. 

And yet the speed of it is often unbearable. 

Are yellow lights bad? No. 

They can be confronting. 

As we face our…. 

Lack of patience.

Need for validation and approval.

Desire to control the journey, the story, the experience.

Inability to accept our circumstances.

… Yellow lights have the potential to transform us. 

They challenge us to accept. Force us to resign. 

They remind us to enjoy the journey more than the destination. 

Maybe they also teach us that the journey IS the destination. 

November 20th, 2023: I was one year quietly working on the launch of my new business, Through Experience. One year of writing, creating, filming, developing, and dedicating all of my free time to this vision. I was set to launch in January and was anxiously working through all of the details. At 4:45am on November 21st, I woke up in the emergency room, details slowly emerging about the car accident my mother and I were in. She was unconscious, bleeding in the brain, with broken bones and fractures throughout her body. I could have lost her. She spent 35 days in the hospital, had multiple surgeries, and I was by her side the entire time. I too had surgery for my broken nose and two lacerations in my head. It would be 5 months until I was able to launch Through Experience. YELLOW LIGHT. 

Did my business eventually launch? Yes. 

Looking back knowing what I now know, was I ready to launch in early January? Absolutely not! 

Did the additional time and the delay that I was forced to experience prove to be useful in the end? Yes. 

When confronted with yellow lights here are some thoughts on what to do: 

• Accept the delay 
• Enjoy the temporary detour 
• Remind yourself that a yellow light is not a stop, it is merely asking you to proceed with caution
• Practice gratitude for the extra time you are being given. Whether or not you can identify why it’s a blessing, know that it is one. 

Sometimes yellow lights come as a delay.

Sometimes yellow lights come as a temporary detour. 

Sometimes a yellow light comes to jolt us out of our own way….. 

To let go.

To have grace. 

To enjoy our journey. 

To protect us from moving too fast, 

not being ready,

Forcing what is not quite right, 

And giving us additional time. 

Surely this yellow light is happening for me and not to me. 

Why are yellow lights so difficult to accept? We know they happen. And yet when they happen to us we are often surprised, annoyed, frustrated, and anxious over them. 

Lately the theme of yellow lights has been happening all over my life. 

August 14, 2024: The Greek government rejected the extension of my digital nomad visa, and informed me that I have 25 days to voluntarily leave the country. I didn’t see this coming. This forced me to evaluate all the ways that I could possibly stay in the country. It crystallized both my desire and intention to be in Greece. I submitted for an extension while I analyze all of my options and was granted until November 9th, 2024. Yellow Light. 

Clearly this yellow light, like all yellow lights, is giving me the opportunity to pause and reflect. 

When we are in a season of yellow lights, it can sometimes be easier to finally accept, resign, and neutralize all the feelings we carry about our timeline and plans. 

Yellow lights after a red light are often encouraging. We feel grateful for the movement, any movement towards our vision and goals. 

It’s the yellow light after the green lights that upset us. 

It’s the frequent yellow lights that have a great capacity to impact us and confront us. 

In my life, I realize all the yellow lights have been a blessing. 

They have provided me with time.

They have forced me to release control. 

They have brought me back to myself. 

They have given me the gift of presence. 

When you are stuck in the highway of life sitting at a yellow light, there is often nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, and nothing to do but accept the situation you are in. 

And then sometimes you look back and think…. Did I really hit greenlights or looking back was a string of yellow lights actually a greenlight over time? Did I really move so fast and with such ease or does the compound effect of yellow lights in hindsight feel like a greenlight? 

How do we turn around the energy associated with yellow lights?

From frustration to acceptance 

From annoyance to neutrality 

From resentment to presence 

How do we ensure we are energetically ready to embrace and accept the energy that brings us the flow we are looking for? 

We remind ourselves that the yellow light is happening FOR us. 

Maybe the yellow light stops us from accelerating towards what is not for us. 

Maybe the yellow light also prepares us for the inevitable change that will occur when we hit GO. It gives us a pause before we are ready to accelerate. 

GREENLIGHTS

This light feels like wind in your sails, 

A summer breeze, 

Light and easy, 

Full of ease,

The best ride,

Synchronicities, 

Dancing, 

When everything seems to flow….. 

Who doesn’t love a greenlight? We all do. 

August 2021: I’ve been in Greece for two months, island hopping, and using Athens as a base for my belongings. I landed in the Athens airport on my way back from Mykonos. And I have a visceral feeling of having arrived “home” except Athens is not my home. I’ve only ever felt at home in two places, San Juan and Manhattan, and as a result I’ve only ever lived in two places. Yet, this is an undeniable feeling. I walk through the airport in a daze of sorts. Processing my feelings. Questions swirling around how I could possibly feel this way. Wondering how I would ever be able to execute a move to Athens. At that moment, I decided to stop trying to do anything. Surely, if this is the plan for me, the Universe will solve it because from my perspective I do not see how this could ever happen. Two days later I met a man and while discussing our work and careers he told me, “Greece is about to introduce a digital nomad visa, for people like you. You can apply for it and move to Greece.” And just like that, I realized that the solution had been provided to me, and I was moving to Athens. GREENLIGHT.

Sometimes we don’t even acknowledge or recognize the daily little greenlights that we come across. 

We are searching and waiting for the big ones. 

We are focused on the big moments where a greenlight gives us the thrill, the speed, the affirmation. 

The door opens. 

The right person appears.

It’s like being alone on the highway with zero roadblocks or interference around us. 

And yet, it’s the little greenlights that truly improve the quality of our lives, when we are aware of them happening. 

Finding the parking spot. 

Getting the last cookie. 

Being seated at the best table. 

Catching a glorious sunset. 

Reading that one page that inspires you. 

Listening to something that unlocks exactly what you need to hear.

Receiving the promotion.

Hitting your sales goals. 

Falling in love simultaneously. 

Greenlights are the best. 

Does it ever feel that some people are programmed to experience more greenlights than others? 

Is there a specific energy to greenlights?

An expectation that you will receive and be given in this life? 

A sense of gratitude and wonder that fosters more greenlights occurring? 

It does seem that way to me. 

While red lights and yellow lights are inevitable, it does feel that some people hit more greenlights than others throughout the course of a lifetime. 

So how does one cultivate more greenlights? 

• You let go of your plan and instead embrace the idea of your life being co-created with a higher energetic power. 
• You practice gratitude and consciously start to observe all of the little moments by giving yourself the gift of being present to your life. 
• You are open and receptive. 
• You practice acceptance and are neutral as events unfold. 

Maybe you hit more greenlights when you are receptive to the journey that shows up for you as opposed to the one that you want. 

Maybe being on the highway IS the greenlight. 

Could it be that a greenlight is a matter of perspective? 

Embrace what shows up for you, and over  time it feels like a string of greenlights happening no matter what the situation brings. 

CONCLUSION

Life is a highway that is constantly intersecting. 

We are not alone on this journey. 

In the course of our lifetimes we get many traffic signals. They reroute us, ask us to pause, or give us the clearance to freely move forward. 

And no light is forever. 

What is within our power and control is how we respond to the lights. 

Acceptance, neutrality, gratitude being among the most critical actions we can take to make our ride more enjoyable, more fun, more magical. 

With some perspective we can find value in all of the traffic signals we receive and experience. 

Are you at a red light? Good! This can be a fun redirection.

Are you at a yellow light? Amazing! You have some time to enjoy and experience new possibilities on your way. 

Are you at a greenlight? Buckle up, it’s time to flow!

All three are best experienced in the present. 

All three have gifts and opportunities for you to discover. 

All three are cycles of life. 

Whatever light is showing up for you right now, know that it offers blessings, and that it is a gift for you (even if you do not yet understand what it shall bring). 

Does this resonate with you? I’d love to hear your perspective.

XO,

Marissa