Dear Julia,

I finally bought the car I wanted most in the world a year and a half ago, and it got totaled in less than a year. Now I've had another accident with my beloved car. I feel like this must be some kind of message from the Universe, but I'm not sure what it means. What is the deal with these car accidents? Thanks so much, Julia. Love to you!

-Kyle

Dear Kyle,

Once we learn about the law of attraction, it's natural to wonder how and why we may have created certain experiences. There is a saying in metaphysical circles that there is no such thing as accidents, but I don't believe that is entirely true.

I like that the subject we're dealing with here is auto accidents, because I frequently use the metaphor of driving to illustrate how we navigate our way to what we desire in life. Most people get behind the wheel of their lives with no formal training. They just get in and copy what they've seen other people like their parents, siblings, teachers and friends do. They turn the key, grab the wheel, test the floor pedals and lurch off.

Since they don't have a map or even a clear sense of their destination, they turn down this street and that one as guided by whims, unconscious habits and impulses, vague feelings and intuitions, unclear memories about where they've been before and where they guess each street might lead them.

As you might imagine, this approach leads to lots of people getting lost, and to no small number of accidents. No one WANTS accidents, of course, but since these folks get behind the wheel without any real skills or training, they tend to feel a bit out of control and nervous about the whole process. Further, they don't know how to consciously align with a safe, productive, successful trip!

As I see it, accidents happen all the time when we are not carefully aligning what we want. It's the same with health, financial prosperity, and every other aim or desire. If we give little or no thought to manifesting good health, it's easy for us to haphazardly adopt habits and manifest experiences that aren't very healthy. If we don't give much thought to manifesting prosperity and we spend our resources carelessly, we'll probably feel out of control in relationship to money.

Further, if we aren't setting our own tone in life, we tend to get caught up in the dominant tone around us. For example, if our parents had issues with prosperity consciousness, and were always worried about money, unless we consciously choose to adopt a different approach, we will tend to approach money the same way that they did. So in a nutshell, many times we are simply creating our experiences by default, which leads to things we tend to label accidents. Often, these just mean we've been careless with our vibration.

It's also important to note that the physical is a realm of profound contrast. In order to love something, we must risk losing it, which means big love is naturally accompanied by big fear. This is why we tend to worry so much about our children: as there is nothing we love more in life, there is nothing we worry about more. You wrote that this was the car you wanted most in the world, and then later, you described it as your beloved car. Even though you may not have been conscious of it, I'm betting that when you bought this car, you also picked up a lot of worry that something might happen to it.

Of course, once we manifest something unpleasant once, we naturally tend to manifest it again. For example, after your first accident, you were probably afraid of having another one, and you began to give lots of attention to accidents. It's apparent from your question that you are now giving the subject of car accidents a very big place in your world, because you're thinking that there is some deep spiritual meaning behind this pattern. Giving lots of attention to this matter will of course tend to manifest more accidents.

You are, however, on your way to a higher level of experience because you've taken the crucial step of becoming more CONSCIOUS of what is happening. You're wise to examine your beliefs about accidents in general, and also to ask yourself if you generally feel safe in the world. Often we experience a recurring pattern in various areas of our lives due to a general underlying feeling that has beome so normal or natural for us that we don't even notice it.

For example, if deep down you feel rather vulnerable, like something bad could happen without warning at any moment, you would be a match for all sorts of different accidents, from car accidents to bumps and bruises, spills, slips, stains, messes, typos - you get the idea! The good news is that by cultivating the general feeling of safety and security, you can manifest the experience of well-being across the board instead.

To leave this pattern behind, however, I wouldn't spend too much time analyzing it. It's not essential to understand why this happened - the important thing is to recognize that you want something different than this, and then to consciously and deliberately give your thought energy/attention to what you desire. In other words, quit focusing on these accidents so you can focus on well-being instead.

Just think about the many, many days you drove without accident or incident. I bet if we added up all the minutes you've ever spent driving, the couple of minutes it took for you to get into these accidents would be a teeny, tiny fraction of your driving time. By appreciating your general experience of safety here, you can align with a higher vibration in relationship to driving.

In summary, sometimes there is no great lesson behind our experiences. Instead, they're just flashing road signs that tell us we're off course, and must pay more attention if we want to safely arrive at a desirable destination.