Does The Universe Give Us Signs?

Does the universe/a higher power/spiritual guides/our higher selves/the powers at be give us signs?  Are there unseen forces at work coaxing us to follow the right paths in life?  In my younger years I would have laughed at the notion of these questions, but now I think that they do deserve some thought.

Some people think the universe has an unlimited amount of material to work with to deliver a sign to you.  Some examples of a "sign" could be:

-You happen to notice a sign or image on a building/car/billboard that seems to be a message for you

-You are thinking about something and a particular song comes on the radio that seems to confirm your sentiments

-Someone you haven't heard from in a long time reaches out to you with information you were wanting/needing

-You have a dream that provides clarity on a confusing situation

-You randomly overhear a conversation that seems like it was meant for you
-You start noticing patterns, synchronicities, & coincidences in your life, often in the form of numbers

Other people think that things like this are completely random and just pure coincidence; instead it is our mind that seeks to find patterns and meaning and therefore we interpret something out of nothing.

Some things that happened to me recently are:

I started seeing all these license plates beginning with CAA.  I took note of this bc the conference that I played soccer in was the CAA.  I thought it was interesting though and brought it up with someone at work.  They remarked that they noticed a license plate starting with CAA the other day and took note of it because it was the same initials as a form that she had been needing to fill out but was procrastinating on.  She thought me bringing it up meant she really needed to get it done.  Because she believed in signs from the universe and had seen the same sign I thought it meant maybe I should try to figure out what it was saying to me.  But I got busy, didn't think of anything, and kinda forgot about it.  Then the next day I was driving home from work and got sideswiped while going into a turning lane.  The guy pulled over and when I went to write down his license plate I got chills for a second when I saw that his plate was CAA.  It almost felt like it was nudging me, saying, "hey I'm still here."  Unfortunately I still haven't figured out what it means and I know the logical person's answer would be that it means nothing other than probably a big batch of CAA license plates were all produced at the same time.
 

Here's another example with a more concrete conclusion.  I had been going back and forth debating about leaving my full time job and working on WINutrition full time at TOPS.  Obviously this has inherent risk and at the time was really stressing me out because I was trying to do 2 jobs at once.  I was driving home one day and was thinking about how leaving my more stable job might not be worth the headache.  I then pulled up to a stoplight and the car in front of me had a TOPS bumpersticker on it!  To me it said, "go with TOPS".  And let me also say that the entire time I have been in Wilmington I haven't seen a TOPS bumpersticker and I haven't since either.  So more time went by and I got to the point where I had to make a decision.  I was leaning towards TOPS but still felt a little nervous about it.  I was in someone else's bathroom and randomly picked up a magazine out of a pile. It was Outside Magazine and it happened to be a nutrition special on nutrition needs of athletes.  Coincidental.  The slogan on the front was "Eat to Win" which was even more coincidental bc that is the exact phrase that I have on my WIN website.  This said to me, "this is meant for you."  Then the real kicker was that I randomly opened the magazine and there was a sticker stuck in the page that I flipped to.  The the first line on it was "Quit your job."  So yes, it's official - I am going to be at TOPS full-time in March and I'm so super pumped!!!

The last interesting thing I've been noticing is series of multiple digits, especially 1s. Like looking at the clock randomly and it's 11:11 or 1:11. When I was driving up to VA with my brother over Christmas for example I randomly looked at the mile marker and it was 111, then later I looked at the clock and it was 1:11 am, then we got lost and I looked at the street address of a building and it was 111! This has continued to occur in many different ways.  For example, I was going to a patient's home and the address had been given to me by a doctors office. For whatever reason they gave me the wrong city and I pulled over once I realized there was no house with the number I was looking for on that street, I glanced up and was right in front of house #1111. This same day I noticed the mileage on my car was 111,111.1.  Another day at work, I was making coffee.  I looked at the clock on the coffee machine and although it was about 8 am, the clock was off and happened to read 1:11.  Later that day I glanced down at my watch, yep 11:11.  And that afternoon I saw 1:11.  Here's something I just saw yesterday on the back of a bathroom stall and I HAD to take a picture because I was like, really?!

And funnily enough, just as I was writing this, I looked up at the tv to see what sport they were showing on the Olympics and on the screen was a bobsledder with jersey #11.  Is this all a big coincidence or does it mean something?

There are a lot of metaphysical theories out there about the significance of duplicate & triplicate numbers and I won't go into detail on that, but it is interesting to google if you have some time to kill.  My favorite interpretation of the 111 phenomenon is that it's a sign that you are starting a new direction in life and that you are on the right track.  I've also heard people say "11:11, make a wish" which is kinda fun too.
 

So, I'm starting to believe that it is possible to receive signs from the universe (and I'm aware this makes me sound a little crazy - which in and of itself has not yet been disproven, haha ;)  But am I only perceiving more signs because I'm thinking about it?  Or have I been getting signs all along and been missing them?  What happens if the universe gives you signs and you choose to ignore them?  Do coincidences exist or does everything happen for a reason?  Do you think the universe gives us signs?  What kind of signs have you received?  Did you listen to them?  What was the outcome?  Would be interested to hear others' take on this topic :)