May 3, 2008

I manifested a miracle the other day, but I have to confess that I’m not quite sure how I did it.

I mean, I’ve known for a while now about the universal law of attraction, which says that I can attract the people, situations and things that I want into my life if I put my mind to it.

I’ve read about, been to talks on, and know people who speak of attracting and creating our own perfect world – how we deserve and can have the perfect partner, a wonderful job and all the good things in life, and how abundance is simply a thought away.

Easier said than done, I thought.

For most of us who have lived our lives believing that we’re a miserable, undeserving lot who have to work hard and make sacrifices in order to get what we want, a complete change of mindset is required. And that, dear friends, is a lot more difficult to do than manifesting a miracle.

But something that happened recently has initiated the mindset change for me.

For the last year and a half, my husband Brian and I have been living in limbo. The 24-year-old condominium where we have been living for over 14 years was sold to a developer who wanted to knock down the two blocks of apartments and rebuild houses and townhouses on the plot of prime land on which they stood.

In land-scarce Singapore, it is common for older low-rise apartments to be sold en bloc to developers who will knock them down so that new houses or high-rise apartments can be built on the land. Such transactions are legal and usually sail through, as few people have strong enough legal grounds or enough finances to contest them.

So Surprise No. 1 came when a group of homeowners got together, pooled their resources and hired a lawyer to oppose the sale of our condo.

To cut a long story short, the legal wrangle grew from what most people in the industry and in the know had considered to be a fairly simple case of “The minority will lose and it’ll all be over in six to nine months max” to an exhausting tug-of-war that dragged on for well over a year.

Right from the beginning, Brian and I did not want the sale to go through. We were happy where we were, and we’d always thought that we’d live out our lives here. This was the only home that our teenaged son Jordan and many of our pets knew.

It was in this area that I was born and grew up. My parents and sisters were a short drive away. The neighbourhood was safe. The location was good, and we had everything that we needed – supermarkets, eateries, shops, banks and a post office – all conveniently nearby.

It was hard to accept that we were going to lose it all. Unfortunately, we were one of those who just didn’t have strong enough legal grounds or money to fight it.

We struggled to overcome emotion so that practicality could rule. On the advice of a lawyer friend, we took a second housing loan and went house hunting. We eventually found another apartment in another suburb.

It wasn’t perfect, but it had potential, and it was within our means.

So Jordan would have to wake up much earlier to catch a bus to school. It would be a little harder for my parents to pop over for the occasional visit. Brian would no longer be able to walk to the neighbourhood pub for his weekly pint.

But there was a supermarket in the same building; eateries, shops and public transportation were within easy access. Most importantly, the apartment had good energy and we knew we could make a home of it and be happy there.

After some months of tussling, the dispute was brought up to the Strata Title Board, a government body that looks into such matters, and the official hearing of the case was held over a few days.

Then came Surprise No. 2. The Board unexpectedly ruled against the sale. We rejoiced, but our joy was short-lived.