Balbrae's Manifestation Log

[Balbrae]

Sat-Mon., October 8-10

Manifestation No. 1 - Car Breakdown and Repair

On Saturday, I drove to a tropical aquarium store in Sacramento, which is about 150 miles from my home. I was buying some live coral and fish for my super cool reef aquarium. I was listening to a really good bunch of audio books by Mike Dooley (Infinite Possibilities and Manifesting Change It Couldn't Be Easier (Unabridged)). So I was in a very positive mental state.

Upon arriving in Sacramento, my car's radiator--long ago diagnosed with a slow leak--began leaking coolant most visibly (much more than before). It was anyone's guess as to whether I could make it back home before replacing the radiator, or whether the end had arrived for my radiator in good old Sacramento.

What to do? Under one scenario, the car might be fine, with the leak, if I could simply top off the radiator with coolant along the way home. I liked the scenario of having it repaired close to home, once I made it back, rather than having it repaired 150 miles away from home. However, under another scenario, the engine might overheat and lock up, if radiator blew or the thermostat froze up (preventing coolant from circulating).

If I were to have it repaired in Sacramento, there would be added complications of: (1) an extra round trip to Sacramento; (2) renting a car to drive home while my car was in the shop; and (3) the unfamiliarity of the Sacramento area. However, if I didn't take it to a repair shop in Sacramento, and my car broke down in the middle of nowhere on the way home, then having it towed to either my hometown or Sacramento would have added an unnecessary cost to the overall process. Moreover, given the uncertainty of my transportational means, I thought that it might not be safe to buy livestock fish, who should ideally be put in an aquarium as quickly as possible after being purchased, not stuck in a car on the side of a road.

Taking a cue from the audio books I had immersed myself in on the ride up, I chose to think good, calm thoughts of safety, economical results, and efficiency: "I will get fish, and they will be safe and comfortable all the ride home." "Everything is okay. I will try to make it back with my car the way it is, and I will carry coolant in the car in case the leak requires replenishment. Everything will be just fine, and I will try to go home in my car." So I went to an Auto Zone Store and bought coolant and filled up my radiator. I would soon find out that the more pressing problem was not a leaking radiator, but a frozen thermostat that would not allow the coolant to circulate or do its job.

Driving home, I traveled about 10-15 miles when I noticed that it wasn't going to work; the temperature gauge when straight to "HOT." I had already priced the repair to remove and replace the radiator and the thermostat, if done at the Pep Boys in my hometown: $600 ($1200 if the dealer did it). So I called up the nearest Pep Boys in Sacramento, based on my new location (having tried to go home already). The price would be about the same to repair it in Sacramento as it was in my home town. However, the "bad news" was that the repair shop he didn't have my car's radiator in stock. It would need to be ordered. Given that it was a Saturday, the repair shop couldn't even place the order for a new radiator until Monday. This meant that my car's repair might not be complete until Wednesday or Thursday. Trusting in the flow of the Universe, I calmly said, "No big deal. I'm on my way to your shop now."

So I drove my car in spurts, until the engine temperature guage went to "HOT." Then I pulled over, turned off my car and waited 20 minutes each time, to allow it to cool down. I repeated this process until I made it to the repair shop. I caught a cab to the airport, where I rented a car, given that the other locations were closed by the afternoon on a Saturday. Then I drove home in a rental car. I kept visualizing that everything would be just fine, and that it was no big deal. For me, the biggest hassle would be driving back so late in the week to pick up my car, based on office-work committments and my hectic schedule. But I kept visualizing that all would be fine.

Fast forward to my utter surprise the next day--a Sunday--when I got a call from the repair shop and was told that they found a radiator (on a SUNday!) and the car would be ready by 6:00 p.m. that same day (Sunday). I didn't question the manifestation--I knew better than that, no matter how strange it was that no less then 3 car repair shops told me that no radiator could be ordered until Monday. As I was driving to the repair shop, I was about 3 minutes away when my phone rang again, it was the repair shop saying that my car was ready.

Though the timing was beyond impeccable, the odd thing was that the attendant stated: "I'm glad I was able to help you get a radiator so fast to get your car repaired so fast." I've seen many car repairs in my life, but this bragging servitude was a bit strange, and I chalked it up to the Universe poking fun at me through the statement, as if to say, "you see--you can manifest things quite quickly; I'm glad that I, the Universe, was able to get you back on your wheels so quickly.")

Here's the thing: had I not gone with my hunch and started to drive home, I would likely have gone to a different repair shop closer to the fish store. It is likely that the repair technicians wouldn't have hustled so hard to get my car fixed the next day (on a Sunday). So I manifested a better result, by holding the calm thoughts: "all will be fine...try to drive home in your car and see what happens..." Plus, I got a $50 gift card out of the repair. Pretty cool, huh?