When I launched this blog, I did so because I wanted a space where I could show how to actually apply the law of attraction. The rest of the site contains articles, audio and video about the principles of LOA, but this is where I get to share real world examples. And that’s what I’ve got for you today. In this particular case, however, I have to open up my psyche to you, neuroses and all, and really let you see inside my head. If you’re somehow under the illusion that I’m perfect and want to keep it that way, stop reading now. You have been disclaimered.

This is the story about a seemingly unimportant broken water heater, which caused me to learn an incredibly important lesson. My hope is that by sharing it with you, you’ll get some benefit from the experience, as well.

It all started one Friday night

So there I was, one Friday night. I was at home alone, having decided to have a nice, quiet evening for myself. With my cup of Cinnamon tea beside me, I was just settling into watching a movie, when I heard the unmistakable sound of a pipe bursting in the kitchen. I jumped up and ran into the other room, only to discover hot water running down the wall behind the water heater (I live in Spain, where it’s common to have water heaters mounted to the kitchen or bathroom wall.) The electric water heater had sprung a leak and was leaking hot water all over the counter and floor.

I stayed calm. I unplugged all electrical appliances and moved them out of the way. I turned off the main water (didn’t help, as the water heater was emptying itself all over the kitchen). I called the insurance company. I ran downstairs and begged my lovely neighbor, who’s much better at home emergencies than I am, to come and take a look. I was even proud of myself for not getting even a teensy bit upset.

I shifted my point of view by imagining that this may very well give me the opportunity to get that gas installation I’d been wanting (I only have electric). Yes, this was surely just a means to a fabulous end, even if the delivery was a bit inconvenient. I chalked that bit up to resistance. I kept myself in a happy space. So far so good.

Then, the problems started

The insurance company told me it wasn’t their problem and there was nothing they could do, which meant that I’d potentially have to pay hundreds of Euros to have this situation fixed. I had to wait until Monday morning to call the agency that manages my building, who then told me that I had to get the quotes for the repairs myself (say what?!) My mood dipped a little. Why wasn’t this going smoother? Why did it have to happen on a Friday night, when there was no one available?

The technician who showed up told me that the water heater couldn’t be repaired, but that it would be easy as pie to get gas installed. All I had to do was get the approval from the owner of the building and they’d do it the next day. Ah, there was the ease. Things were looking good again. Maybe all this hassle was down to some old resistance, but I could surely control my reaction and stay in my happy space. It had just been a little blip.

I called the agency, who contacted the owner. Then, I waited for two weeks. Two weeks without hot water. I did my best not to care too much, and even looked for the positives. My hair had never been shinier (apparently, rinsing with ice cold water makes your hair shiny). Cold showers are great for the circulation. My electric kettle made boiling water for washing the dishes a snap. But I couldn’t help get a little disgruntled. What was going on? I wanted things to be easy, and this was taking an awfully long time… The weather had turned cloudy the day I had to start taking cold showers, making it even more uncomfortable. And while I knew that my attention to how crappy this situation was would only make it crappier, it became harder and harder to be all cheery and happy about it as the days, then weeks, went by.

Finally, I was able to get an answer: the owner wouldn’t approve a gas installation. The agency told me to go and get a quote for a replacement water heater. Right. That was it. I could handle the inconvenience as long as I imagined that there was some kind of payoff at the end. If there was a greater reason for all of this, I could stay in my happy place. But once that reason was yanked out from under me, I couldn’t keep the annoyance at bay.

I wallowed in that space for about half a day and then came to my senses. Enough was enough. I made the necessary calls to get things going, but it was clear to me: I was stuck. There was something in my vibration that needed shifting. I was creating this situation (as we create everything in our reality) and I was the one who could change it.

I discovered the real issue

It took a bit of soul searching but here’s the buggy belief I discovered:

I am a teacher. I am supposed to know this stuff. I’m supposed to be a shining, perfect example of how to manifest everything you’ve ever wanted. After all, if I can’t pull it off perfectly at all times, who the hell would ever listen to me? It was my old, perfectionist belief system coming back to bite me in the ass.

I was looking at this water heater situation as a way to prove that I know what I’m doing. An easy resolution, with an even better outcome (i.e. the gas installation) would give me something I could show as evidence. I could brag about it. I could blog about it. I had visions of telling you all how my water heater broke and badabing badaboom, I had a new system installed 48 hours later, in a country where a gas installation can routinely take 3 months (yes, seriously). And of course my inability to manifest that fantabulous situation was proof that I was a total law of attraction failure. I was a fraud. If I couldn’t even fix a damn water heater, I might as well close up shop right now. The longer I waited for the resolution, the more that thought was activated and the worse I felt.

I knew I had to shift my vibration

These thoughts felt awful, which told me that my inner being, who I really am, didn’t agree. I had to shift these beliefs and turn to better feeling thoughts. So, after 3 weeks of taking cold showers, I sat myself down on a Saturday, and began to deliberately change my thoughts.

Original thought: The fact that I can’t get this water heater situation resolved quickly and easily is proof that I’m a failure at manifesting.

New thought: The fact that I can’t get this water heater situation resolved quickly and easily is proof that I’m a success at manifesting.

Here’s how I came to that conclusion:

• I wasn’t a failure at manifesting. Failing at manifesting wasn’t possible. We are always creating. I was manifesting my reality perfectly according to my vibration. Hence, everything in my reality was proof that I manifested successfully. (Basically, I was missing the point a bit).
• Since everything that manifests in my reality is a direct reflection of my vibration, the situation I was facing was nothing but an indicator that I was holding on to a frequency that wasn’t serving me.
• The only way to fail at this game, if that was even possible, would be to not notice that I wasn’t feeling good about the situation. If I hadn’t made the correlation between an unwanted situation and my vibration, that could be considered a failure of sorts, I suppose.
• But I had. It had taken me a bit of time, but I’d figured it out. So there.
• I don’t have to be perfect. In fact, if I pretend to be perfect, y’all will either feel badly about yourselves for not also being perfect, or you’ll see right through my ruse (plus, I’ll sound like a pretentious bitch).
• When I thought about blogging about this growth experience, I realized that my “failures” are probably much greater teaching opportunities than my easy successes. The idea that someone else could benefit from what I’d just put myself through made me feel so much better. There was tremendous value in what I’d just learned.
• Being an LOA teacher does NOT mean that I can’t have any issues or beliefs to release anymore. I’m never going to be done with that. No matter how high my vibration gets, I will always have lower frequencies to release. So my success as a teacher lies in being able to explain the process and give good examples that others can benefit from, NOT in being some superhuman saint that no one can relate to.

As I began to think these thoughts, I began to feel better. And then I felt that rush of relief that comes when you shift some energy. I was flooded with warmth, with that wonderful, positive, tingly feeling you get when the energy is flowing freely again. I had let go of the need for the water heater to get fixed quickly. I had let go of the idea that its resolution had any bearing on my competence as a writer, teacher or human being (how much pressure was THAT to put on one event?!) And in that moment I KNEW that the situation would now be resolved quickly and easily.

The floodgates opened

As I said, I sat down and deliberately shifted my energy on Saturday. On Monday morning, my phone started to ring. The agency had somehow lost my new cell phone number. They’d been trying to get a hold of me for several days, but couldn’t (my energy wouldn’t let them). But that was all magically sorted now. They had received the quotes, gotten approval from the owner, and I’d be getting a call from the technician soon. Oh, and just by the by, I wouldn’t have to pay a dime (not normal). A few minutes later, the gas company called me. They hadn’t gotten the memo that gas could not be installed, but they wanted to help. About ten minutes after that, the electrician called. What time could he stop by tomorrow? Next day installations are unheard of here…

It was as if the floodgates of solutions had opened up and were showering their goodness all over me. My energy, my vibration had been blocking them from coming to me, and as soon as I got to the root of the problem, they swooshed right in. Booya!

So, there you have it. It took three weeks of cold showers to finally get me to realize that I was on the wrong energetic track. I kept myself positive most of the time, which made the experience much less uncomfortable than it could’ve been, but even so, until I got to the root of the problem, nothing changed. But once I did, it all resolved itself quickly and easily. Oh, and just as an aside, the new water heater is more than twice the size of the old one. What I’d really wanted from the gas installation was to be able to take longer hot showers, and that’s exactly what I got. Damn it, I love this stuff!

Success is often the result of taking a misstep in the right direction. – Al Bernstein

Right on Mr. Bernstein. Right on.