This is a story about manifesting in the wrong direction… that we’ve all lived more than once. But it’s so much bigger than it seems on the surface.

My friends were in the front seat of the car discussing the directions to get to Salem, Massachusetts. (This was before we had map apps on our phones.) It was supposed to be our lunch stop on the way to Maine. Maps were strewn all over the car. 

I was in the back seat, fascinated that we could drive from Rhode Island through Massachusetts and New Hampshire and land in Maine in about three hours. In the state of California, I can drive for over six hours and still not cross the border.

Wendy finally declared that we’d missed our turnoff for Salem, so we’d stop there on the way back to Rhode Island the next day. I loved how she decided to be in the moment and go with what was easiest. That’s what I call being in the flow. 

We ended up in Newburyport, Massachusetts, for lunch. Lunch was amazing, and I scored some silver hoop earrings I’d been looking for. Everything was working out perfect.

This trip was on my top five desired vacations list. I wanted to see the fall colors. The bonus was that our friends from Providence, Rhode Island, would be joining us. 

I had the best of many worlds on that trip: My now husband was with me, I adore my friends, fall was in progress with its gorgeous colors, the weather was great, I love old architecture, and Wendy was playing tour guide. 

We were on our way to Salem for the second try. My friend Rich is from Boston and had told me that there is a statue in Salem of his great, great, great grandfather. I had put it on my wish list of things to see while I was on the East Coast.

I was enjoying my fairy tale come true, and then the contrast hit. 

There were thousands of people in downtown Salem in honor of Halloween, a huge festival. As you may know, in 1692 nineteen men and women were hung who were accused of practicing witchcraft, and many others who were accused died in prison. As years passed, apologies were offered and restitution was made to the victims’ families. 

Salem now has many museums and memorials dedicated to witches. What does all this mean? Too many people and no parking spots!

We drove around looking for a parking spot for what seemed an eternity. At one point, someone suggested we just bypass this town. I said that was fine, whatever felt best. But somehow I think we decided that we were already there, so we might as well explore. Bad idea. 

There was a reason we missed the exit to Salem the first time around.

We were not listening to our inner guidance, and we started pushing and forcing our plan into place.

It was not unfolding effortlessly like the rest of the trip. 

People packed the sidewalks. The lines into the museums wrapped around the buildings. The energy was chaotic. Our last attempt at fun failed. We hired a rickshaw (a three-wheeled bicycle where the passengers sit back and enjoy the ride while some stud sits in the front and pedals you around) to take us on a tour around town. 

He was not an accomplished tour guide and was sweating bullets with our butts in the back. Time to get out of town!

The good news is I found the statue of Roger Conant so I could tell Rich I connected with his ancestor! But I watched the events unfold that day knowing that we were on an upstream adventure. I could’ve stopped it and I didn’t. Lesson learned. 

I thought I’d learned this lesson a couple of years before that when Eva (my bestie) and I got lost on our way to a seminar. We were going back and forth on the freeway and finally showed up at the wrong hotel. When we arrived at the right hotel, we ended up walking out of the seminar. It was not what we had thought it was going to be. Again, the journey was feeling more than hard, and yet we had kept pressing forward.

These two examples are a demonstration of what happens when you don’t follow the inspired actions. In both cases, I should’ve turned around and gone home or gone somewhere else that felt easier. The third step in the Law of Attraction is Allowing. 

It’s where you relax into the outcome, and any action you take should feel good, not like you’re fighting an uphill battle. I could’ve, at any point, stopped in the middle of what we were doing and asked myself what would feel best. 

Next time I’ll jump out of the boiling pot!