Awesome Larra’s burning question: “At the beginning of this school semester (mid-January), I decided I was going to manifest a car. I’ve had the same car since I was 17; I’m 22 now. It’s 15 years old and has been nothing but a disappointment since I was given the keys. I have been doing some research and decided on my perfect car. Once I made the affirmation that I was going to have this car, that I DID have this car, the very next time I went to crank it, it wouldn’t crank. I took this as a sign that the universe was listening, that killing my car would give me a new one. Well, it needed a new alternator, $400 that I don’t have because I chose not to have a job while I’m finishing school. My grandmother took care of it for me. So with a new alternator, I thought it would be easier to imagine my new car while it was running smoother. I was taking in every time I saw my new car on the road that mine was that much closer, I would ask for specific signs, and I would see them. I even went and test drove the car I wanted so I would know EXACTLY how it felt when it was mine. The next week, my breaks go out. Again my grandmother takes care of it. The next week, she surprises me and tells me to go get new tires, because in the last month they have been going flat because they were dry rotting. It drove so much better and I was able to see my new car so much closer. The next week, it wouldn’t crank again. I needed a new battery, and had to get a jump 3 times in one day. My boyfriend took care of that. The next day (today) my brand new tire has bubbled and needs to be changed.
So my question is this: WHY IN SWEET HOLY HELL has the universe been making it painfully and stressfully clear that I do not have a new car, and that I can’t even pretend I do with a car literally falling apart. I’m running out of silver lining.”
Dear Awesome Larra,
I’m loving this question, because it gives me the chance to dissect and explain something that SO many people struggle with. But before I give you the answer, I want you to maybe cross your arms or clasp them behind your back. Don’t hold any knives or anything. For, as is so often the case with the Law of Attraction, when you hear the utter simplicity of the solution, the face palm you might reflexively be compelled to inflict upon yourself will reverberate around the world. So, you know, be safe.
Ready? Here we go:
Your report card
First of all, you’ve been doing A LOT right, as is evidenced by all the manifestations you’ve been receiving. After all, you managed to attract a new alternator, new breaks, new tires and loads of sightings of the car you want. In effect, you upgraded your current car to a large degree. This deserves to be acknowledged, because it shows you that what you are doing IS working. In terms of focusing on what you want, you get an “A”. Well done, you!
So, why don’t you have your new car yet? And why, if you’re able to manifest the upgrades, is the old car continuing to break down? Are you ready for the answer? Remember, put down all sharp objects and maybe wear a hockey mask, just in case.
Your new car and the overall health of your old car are being blocked by the fact that you keep looking at the old car as something unwanted, something you want to get rid of, upgrade from, push out of your reality. Yes, you’ve been getting into the feeling of the new car, but you’ve been interfering with that frequency by insisting that you get a new car because the one you have NOW is crap. The fact that you’ve seen any movement at all in your manifestations is a testament to how good you are at focusing on what you want. You just forgot to stop focusing on what you don’t want, that’s all.
Commence face palming as needed.
It’s all about your NOW Vibration
When you tell the universe, via your vibration, that what you have NOW is in some way subpar, you are vibrating at a frequency of “I don’t like where I am right NOW”. And that’s exactly what the Universe then has to mirror back to you. The version of you that already has the dream car, the version of you that you want to shift into, to become, doesn’t feel that way. She loves her car, appreciates it, cherishes it and takes care of it. She’s not constantly annoyed by it and certainly doesn’t wish she could change it.
You have a subtle case of the “I’ll feel better when…” blues, which translates into “I don’t feel good NOW”. Your good feelings, your happiness and contentment, can’t be dependent on you manifesting anything. The Universe can’t mirror anything back to you that you’re not yet a match to, so if you’re hoping that a manifestation will make you happier, or will change the way you already feel, you’re going to be hoping for a long, long time.
The trick is to feel the way you would feel if you already had what you want, so that the Universe can keep bringing you stuff that matches that feeling. NOW. I know… easier said than done.
How to feel good even though your damn manifestation isn’t freaking here yet
I get it. You thought you were feeling good NOW. I mean, when you work yourself into a state of happy shiny puppy-ness about your new car, when you look forward to it and appreciate it, aren’t you feeling good NOW? Aren’t you then vibrating “I have my new car”? Yes, you are. And as I said, you are already seeing the results of that. But…
What you and most people who are frustrated with their lack of manifestations are also doing is this: You are focusing on the new car not just because it feels so damn good, but as a way to replace the old car, which you don’t like. So, there’s this nasty bit of “I don’t like my current car” stuck in there. And that’s gumming up the works. Big time.
You’ve had your car for a long time. It wasn’t broke down every day, was it? I mean, it got you to school and to friend’s houses and to your grandmother’s many, many times over the years, hasn’t it? When you look at your current car, you can choose to focus on how it’s always breaking down, or you can choose to focus on the times when it doesn’t. You can see it as unreliable and a big pain in the ass, or you can appreciate it for helping you to become a better manifestor. I mean, look at how responsive to your vibration it’s been! You can choose to remember all the times it let you down, or you can choose to remember all the times it got you where you wanted to go.
It’s just a choice
And yes, it really is as simple as that. All you have to do is choose. Ok, there’s one speed bump: The choice that you’ve been making for a long time now will be easier to make than the new one. The idea of a broken down, unreliable disappointment of a car has a lot more momentum behind it than a well-traveled friend who’s seen you through your formative years. And so, in the beginning, it’s going to be a lot more compelling to just think the thoughts you’ve been thinking all along. But, since that hasn’t been working out too well for you, you may want to do a bit of “work” and choose a different point of focus.
But how? How can you start to see your car, the one you’ve been beating up on and have all these disappointing memories of, in a new light? Let me give you a little trick of mine:
Enter Pixar
One of my favorite techniques for shifting manifestations that involves inanimate objects is to anthropomorphize said objects. Look at me, using five syllable words and shit. When you anthropomorphize something, you give it human characteristics and bring it to life as an entity that has thoughts and feelings and experiences. This is what Disney and Pixar do so successfully in their movies and you can use their animations as a model.
Not only is this tool incredibly effective, it’s also really fun. I can’t tell you how many hilarious conversations I had with my toilet when it decided to run for a while (it may or may not have been training for a marathon, but that’s all behind us now). And don’t worry, I won’t. What happens between me and my toilet is private. Well, mostly. But trust me, there were tears of laughter. Tears, I tell you (it really does not take much to entertain me…).
So, in the case of your car, imagine that it’s a sentient being with a personality. Turn it into a cartoon if that helps you. Then, talk to it. Now, this will be a lot more effective if you don’t ascribe a horrible, vindictive personality to your inanimate object, one of a being that’s just trying to mess with you. Instead, see a friend who wants to do a good job for you, but is, for some reason, prevented from doing so. In your case, I’d recommend that you create the character of an old, somewhat tired car that’s still doing his best to keep on keepin’ on. He loves his new alternator and breaks; in fact, those made him incredibly proud. He’s so embarrassed that his tire broke and he’s really sorry to have caused you so much trouble. He’s like a dog, always so happy to see you, waiting all night for you to walk out that door in the morning so you can take a ride together. He’s eager to please and genuinely crushed when he can’t. He’s like a wonderful, loving grandpa car who’s a bit past his prime but loves you dearly and would do anything for you.
Are you crying yet?
Do you see how giving your car a personality instantly and completely changes the way you view it? Now, I didn’t create this view to make you feel bad for beating up on your poor, defenseless, well-meaning grandpa car. The idea is that you can have affection for your car, be grateful for what it has done for you, instead of harping on about the few times it couldn’t, like always insisting on bringing up the time that grandpa’s dentures fell out in front of everyone. For God’s sake, let it go. Yes, you may be replacing gramps with a new, spiffy car soon, but don’t do it from a place of wanting to get rid of the old guy. Do it because it’s time, he’s served you well, and you want to give him a well-deserved rest. Honor him for the service he’s provided, and thank him for all he’s done for you and for always trying so hard.
If you do this, it should be no issue at all to generate some genuine affection for your car, shifting that nasty bit of resistance and opening up your energy flow so you can receive the manifestations that have been trying to make their way to you all along.
Bottom line
You can’t manifest something that will make you feel better or different than you do right now. You can’t attract a better version of yourself from a place of not being happy with your current self. Find a way to make peace with where you are, to laugh about things that have gone “wrong”, to have compassion and give every situation the benefit of the doubt. Your car is not trying to mess with you. You simply needed to find a way to appreciate it a bit more, to change your vibe to “I love my current car”. Loving something doesn’t mean you have to live with it forever (that’s good relationship advice, too…). Appreciating something doesn’t mean you never want it to change. Change is inevitable. But when you can love and appreciate what is in your NOW, you’ll stop changing to the same damn thing over and over again, but instead allow it to morph to something new, something that more closely matches that feeling of appreciation and love. See? I told you it was simple. Now, stop face palming and go give the old boy a hug. *Sniff*.
This is great advice. It can be frustrating when first learning law of attraction principles, how to apply, etc. we always hear about how we bring about what we think about. Well, thinking is just that first part. Then we have to FEEL about it. We attract what we ARE. And what are we? We are FEELERS! We feel through life. I can think, “I want a new car, I want a new car” over and over and that thought is great. But what do I feel underneath all that? Doubt? Lack of it? Wonder about when it will arrive? I can become the actual vibration of a driver and car owner. I can sit in a friend’s car and feel that feeling of driving off to where I want. I can be in 100% belief that the car feels so free and feel the feelings of freedom right now in the present. I have to become that which I want, energetically, before it arrives. Thanks again and wishing you all deliberate creations!
I can definitely second this analysis! And so wonderful to read, too.
As someone who was gifted with a new car just a couple of years ago, I was in the same position. I’d had my other I bought used from a very nice couple. It was almost 10 years old when it did breakdown finally. I loved that car. People would sometimes say “You can afford better” and “Why do you still drive that same car”, ect. And I’d defend it utterly. I didn’t have a car payment. It was the first car I bought for myself and I paid cash! And it was a stick, worked perfectly well. And when a friend of mine borrowed my car (he was one of those who said I could do better…even he said: I take it back, it’s a great car!)
Long story short, I was UPSET about it. But then my mother surprised me. After trying to fix it and I found it cost prohibitive, she financed a new car for me. Gave me a budget and told me to find what I want. I was just going to drive an old car she loved, but in her words: She was tired of seeing me drive around in older vehicles and wanted to reward me. So, I found my current BABY! I love my new car. It was everything I wanted (at that point I concentrated and prayed on what I wanted, my ideals, and it presented itself to me. And at such a good deal my mom and even her bank were impressed I found it. The buying experience was fun and easy).
Needless to say, your principles seem spot on for how this happened to me. I was not dissatisfied with my old car. But when things converged, my love and appreciation of my old car came into the new. I still have nothing but fond memories of my older car, too.