You really know that people or ideas have reached a meaningful level of familiarity when they make an appearance in pop culture. But when jokes fly, what does that mean?

I caught a commercial the other day for that TV series 30 Rock. One of the characters is trying to start a secret Santa gift exchange at the office and right away the objections came.

Whoaaaaahhh! Yeah, Jenna is portrayed as the stereotypical dumb blonde, a self-centered and flighty actress. Jenna, simplistic follower of the Kabbalah, possibly involved with Scientology, is of course the one on the show who would embrace something as ridiculous as the ideas presented in the The Secret, right?

Is that how pop media views The Secret?

Yes, pop culture tends to poke fun at many belief systems that in themselves are respected by a large following (such as the Jewish Kabbalah and the Church of Scientology). Apparently, many are under the unfortunate impression that the Law of Attraction as presented in the movie The Secret is just the latest New Age fad.

The movie The Secret does not present a new belief system, but has only repackaged a concept that has been around for a long time – perhaps thousands of years. You see ideas based on the Law of Attraction in Vedic teachings, Judeo-Christian writings, and in the writings of businessmen in the early 20th century. It is a life concept that can be apparent to anyone who takes the time to notice.

My son has been driving for only a couple of years, so he is still learning how to deal with various traffic situations. There is one lane-merge situation that he encounters every day on the way to school that has caused him a lot of stress. After turning right onto a major street he needs to merge left in order to get out of a lane that becomes a freeway on-ramp. During regular commute times this can be a bit of a challenge and he’s mentioned coming close to having an accident several times.

So the other day we’re talking and tells me “remember that intersection that I’ve been having trouble with? Well, I decided that instead of dreading how hard it’s going to be each time, I told myself that it will not be a problem.”

Apparently, he did more than just tell himself – he actually believed that this would have some effect.

“It’s weird, but ever since then the traffic has not been bad. The same situations that made it so difficult don’t come up any more.”

And then came the revelation.

“Heyyyy, this is just what that DVD you had us watch was talking about!”

Of course he was referring to The Secret. Then he asked how all these people got together to come up with these concepts for the Law of Attraction. I told him that each person is relating information based on their own experiences, and many people just noticed how things worked in the course of their lives – much like he took note of his own small experience.

So, the movie The Secret has slickly packaged the ideas behind the Law of Attraction and contributed to spreading these concepts throughout modern society. But the ideas are not new. They’ve been experienced by people throughout history – some in small ways while others have worked to gain mastery over the process with great success. I’m sure you’ve noticed events in your own life that indicate that life is not a jumble of random events in which we are helplessly swept along. We see these ideas in most religions, too, in the emphasis on prayer and faith.

It’s not confined to any particular religion, faith, or movement. And it’s definitely no joke.

Check out this one minute intro into recent studies in the power of intention.

Or maybe it only took three days, depending on how you look at it. All I know is that last month I wasn’t even thinking that I would be getting another vehicle, didn’t really need one nor had any clue what type I would want, and today I’m driving a 2001 Lexus IS300.

I debated whether to even work on this post. I don’t advocate a materialistic attitude, but I do believe that this is a classic case of manifestation and that there are some lessons here that will help others understand the law of attraction and the manifestation process.

Countdown

Day One – An idea gels
This is a pretty arbitrary starting point. For over a month a friend of mine had developed an intense interest in used Mercedes ever since he found out how much within financial reach they were for him. He even offered to help me find one whenever I decided to replace the car I was driving. I wasn’t in a hurry and figured maybe in a year I would start looking.

I casually mentioned this to my wife, and I couldn’t believe that the next day (day one) she called to tell me she saw a nice one for sale in the neighborhood, and that I should check it out. Now I honestly didn’t mean to give the impression that I needed to find something right away, so her encouragement surprised me. But I went ahead and contacted the owner and took a look at the car.

So it was on this day that I started to entertain the idea of getting another car sooner rather than later.

The car, a 2002 Mercedes C320, was very nice. But something new happened – I started to think about what I would be really happy with. And this Mercedes, while in excellent condition, didn’t feel quite right. I wasn’t willing to settle. After some discussion with my wife, I decided that a Lexus IS300 would be a good choice, plus I developed a better idea of some of the details that I would enjoy.

I searched Craigslist and started to get a feel for price ranges and years, keeping in mind the upper limit that we were willing to spend.

Day Four – Financial help
At the time I wasn’t aware the role this event would play. There was a bit of a jump in the company stock price – enough to tip the scales in favor of exercising a few options.

Day Five – Shopping at the Dealers
The weekend came, so I spent some time visiting a few dealers in the area looking at the used car selections. I found one that was offered at a decent price, although it also had slightly high mileage.

Day Six – Advice to slow down
My father-in-law happens to be well practiced in the art of buying and selling used cars, so my wife called him for advice. He recommended avoiding dealers and, most importantly, not rushing the process. It could take as long as a month, but if I was patient I’d be sure to find a quality car at a good price.

It was hard not to take the easy route and get that car I saw at the dealer, but my father-in-law offered to help all he could so I decided to relax, slow down, and let him have shot at it. I would give it a month. In the meantime I continued to browse Craigslist.

It was also at this time that my wife and I started to view the proceeds from the stock options as basically being used to fund this purchase. The amount would cover what we were comfortable spending, plus there would be a little left over for future landscaping projects.

Day Eight – Intentional Manifestation
All the cars that I found searching the ads had one problem or another – overpriced, too many miles, unattractive colors, salvage titled, … the list went on. I was starting to feel discouraged, which I shouldn’t have been since I’d only been looking for a few days.

But I caught myself and forced myself to stop and realize that, since I clearly had this as my intention, it was basically a done deal. It was going to happen – I had no doubts about that. It was inevitable.

And it was with that thought that I sat for a few minutes and visualized myself sitting in the driver’s seat, gazing at the dashboard and upholstery, and experiencing all the feelings of new car ownership. Up until then you could say that the intention was there but not as a direct creative act. This was the moment that I made a deliberate and conscious effort to manifest.

Day Nine – The Ideal Car Appears
The next morning, out of habit and without any increased expectation, I searched Craigslist again. And there it was – a new listing with all the right criteria: local, within our price range, low mileage, the right interior and exterior colors (yeah, I got selective about that), and with all service records.

I saw no reason not to inquire about it so I sent the seller an e-mail requesting the VIN# and received a reply that evening. Based on the results of the title search using Carfax, the car had a clean title so I asked about seeing it.

Day Ten – Appointment to see the car
We made arrangements to meet during lunch at a local shopping center between our places of work. The car looked and drove great. There was just one more thing I needed to see, and that was the service records which he had at home. That would have to wait until the next day.

Day Eleven – Offer and Purchase
I almost lost the car. He called me that morning at the behest of his wife to tell me that a guy was planning to drive down with a check to buy the car sight-unseen. I had to make a quick decision. Maybe not smart by normal standards, but I went with my gut and offered him the full price. He accepted.

Later that evening I picked up the car.

Reflections

One point that should not be overlooked is that some level of action was required. I did not sit at home and wait for something to appear in the driveway. But the action I did take seemed as if it was rewarded at every turn.

I also did not do everything “by the book” as advised by my father-in-law. Yes, I only considered ads where the seller claimed to have service records, but I was supposed to see evidence that oil changes were performed regularly at acceptable intervals. There were no such records in the folder, so by my father-in-law’s standards I should have walked away.

I should have also taken the car to a trusted mechanic for a “check up”. I didn’t do this either (and I would strongly recommend this to anyone buying a used car).

Still, the car had a good Carfax history. The report showed that the car received regular servicing at a dealer up until the first owner sold it to his brother, the current seller. The seller owned it for just a few years and changed the oil himself. Again, I went with my gut feeling and trusted his honesty after several conversations with him. (The fact that I saw his other two cars, Porsches that looked very well maintained, also helped.)

This is how it works. Not with struggle. Not with scientific precision. Not with controlling all the angles. It works with intention, faith, and being alert to the flow of life as it guides your actions in harmony with your intention.