IS IT POSSIBLE that things might be working out in your favor, even if they appear to be going wrong? Can the power of your intention attract to you your desired results in ways beyond your conscious manipulation?

We had an amazing demonstration of this principle at our Mastery Training in Fiji. At the outset of the week the host resort assigned our group to a meeting room at the top of a hill. The steep terrain, however, required us to arrange vehicular transport for the entire group for several gatherings each day ? not an attractive prospect, but apparently our only choice. The first evening of the program we discovered the room was cramped, hot, and had poor acoustics. The space was far from ideal, and we did not look forward to pushing through the week there.

The next morning as we gathered to board the vans to ascend the hill, the resort manager informed us that a bus had broken down on the road to the meeting room, and it was impassable. To accommodate us he had erected an open-sided tent a few steps from the beach. When we met there for our seminar session, everyone in the group sighed, "Ahhhh! This is really it!" Our classes were enhanced with a fabulous ocean view, swaying palm trees, and the vista of several exotic islands offshore. The sound of gentle waves and melodic birds provided background accompaniment, enhanced by soft breezes. As we recognized this to be the perfect setting, we all marveled at the synchronicity of the bus breaking down on the first morning of the week. The universe obviously had a better option for us than the resort had offered. Our ideal situation found us. Another one bites the light.

A Course in Miracles asks,

To the cynical, judgmental mind, this notion seems preposterous, even insulting. Yet to the spirit that has captured a sense of faith in the unseen, it speaks of a stream of well-being that runs far deeper the obvious. As Albert Einstein noted, "The most fundamental question we can ask is: Is the universe a friendly place?"

Certainly if we gauge our assessment of life from the news, gossip, and the behavior of people under the influence of fear, the universe seems chaotic and unkind. If we shift our vision, however, and look at life through the eyes of appreciation and wonder, we find so much good and worth that we must say, "Thank you for my life and all of life."

A seminar participant named Roger recounted that when he was seeking a life partner he signed up with a dating service. When the director of the service showed Roger profiles of three women, he was very attracted to one, a lovely Japanese lady. "Something about her photo spoke to me," Roger explained. After one date, he knew that she was the one for him, and she felt the same way. "I was pretty surprised when you contacted me," she told him. "I cancelled my membership to that dating service over a year ago."

There is a grander dating service than the obvious one. So it goes for jobs and living situations. After being out of work for a long time, one of my coaching clients got fed up with hanging around and focused his energy on attracting his ideal position. He wrote up a strong resume, made 30 copies, and prepared to mail them to prospective employers. As he was about to leave for the post office, he received a phone call from an employer who needed someone with his precise skills. How easy can it get?

Events are created and results determined not simply by human manipulation. They are orchestrated by the Law of Attraction, which operates from a basis of mind, vision, and intention. Where you invest your attention and energy is far more significant than your overt actions. In the cases of our seaside meeting space, Roger meeting his wife, and the job-seeker's miracle call, the groundwork had been laid by pure and clear intention. The individuals had launched rockets of desire, uncluttered by fear or resistance, and the universe delivered the results.

You may be closer to your goal than you know. In the film The African Queen, the heroes make a long, arduous journey down the river toward the sea, until their boat gets stranded on a dry riverbed. Exhausted and exasperated, they give up and fall asleep in each other's arms. As the camera pans up to a view from above, we see that they are just around the bend from the ocean they seek. That night heavy rains fall and replenish the river, which floats the African Queen to the ocean. When the couple awakens in the morning, they realize they have arrived.

When something seems to be going wrong, hold space for the possibility that something bigger may be going right. Do all you can do peacefully on your own behalf, and let the universe support you in deeper ways than you can fathom. Hold the high watch and let life help you with the details. Your ship may be closer to the ocean than you know.

© Alan Cohen, 2007