Perhaps the first thing most of us do after discovering the magic of The Secret is to see what we can attract for ourselves. After doing this for myself with my cars, my house, and even little things, I decided it was time to work the magic on others.

One of the things I decided to do was to take money from my “new-car-fund” and donate some of it, and also hire a few people who I knew needed jobs, to do a few jobs around the house and my property. I figured my current car would hold out since there were only minor things wrong with it, and that the money would be better put to use on my fellow men who were in need, rather than spend it on a new car that I could live without. Even though I had accepted that I might have to drive my current car for another year or so, I couldn’t shake the “feeling” of owning a new car, so I kept the feeling alive…

What happened next was my car (my beloved Jaguar) started to literally fall apart. Every day something else happened to the car, and I began to wonder if I’d done a foolish thing by helping out others because now I needed a new car, and my current car was depreciating by the thousands, daily! I didn’t understand why my generosity seemed to be coming back to bite me in the back-side, but I had faith that there was a plan. This wasn’t a punishment or bad luck; this was a sign…

Even though I knew I couldn’t afford a new car, I eventually made a call to the private dealer/agent I buy my cars from and asked what he had; just out of curiosity. He said to come in as soon as possible because he had a car that he knew was just perfect for me. When he described the car (Jaguar S-Type – LOADED!), I knew it was perfect for me, but I also knew it would be expensive and that even with my trade-in I wouldn’t have enough in my “car-fund” to afford that car; but I went to see the car anyway.

As I drove to his dealership, I imagined a black interior, a smooth ride, and a great stereo system. I also imagined myself signing a check to him for the amount of what was left in my “car-fund” account. Long story short; as soon as I sat in the new car I knew it was mine, and that the finances would somehow work out. My dealer gave me an unexpectedly high amount for my car; apparently the problems were very minor, and he dropped the price of the new car so that all I needed to pay was the exact amount remaining in my car-fund account (less than half the car’s worth) – All this without my negotiating anything. I should mention that I’ve dealt with this dealer before and he’s a good, honest business man.

Too often when things go wrong, we think we’re being punished or are having bad luck, but had my car not been falling apart piece by piece, one day at a time, I would never have made the call to my dealer. I followed the feeling in my gut, ignored the limitations, picked up the phone, and now I know the car falling apart was the first blessing.

In the end, I wanted to help my fellow man and also receive my new car, and the universe provided a way for both to happen flawlessly. I gave jobs to people, brought business to an honest entrepreneur, and got a new car that brings me much joy. I’m quite certain that had I used all of my car-fund money to help others, I would still be driving this new car today. I learnt that we can’t give away our abundance, we can only share it and expand it. I proved to myself that we don’t have to choose between giving to others and giving to ourselves. We can do both…We should do both!

I hope this story inspires you. Thanks for reading.