Everyone says they want change in their lives, they want new, they want different.
Yet at the same time, they are really afraid of change. They are anxious about the different. They feel uneasy with the new.
If you truly want something new, you must first make peace with the old and release it. Otherwise, the Universe will keep you in the same place because you are giving it two messages: wanting the new, keeping the old.
Recently, my dear beloved car of 14 years (!) was hitting its last stride. For nearly 160,000 miles, we traveled together. It was zippy, peppy, pretty, and fun. But now it required repairs that cost more than the car was worth. The time had come. I always knew this day would come, especially in the last year or so, as more and more things started to go wrong.
Its last visit to the shop spelled the end. Driving this car could prove dangerous without certain repairs. I had to get a new car. It was a Friday. I was going to go serious car shopping the next day. That evening, I went into the garage. I looked at my sad, rusting, old, broken car. I put my hand on its hood. With some emotion, I have to admit, I talked to my car. I said thank you for being such a great car, for all the trips we took, for all the rain and snow it shielded me from, for all the summer days we ran with the sunroof open and the windows down. I told my car that there was someone better than me to take care of it now. It was beyond my scope of car ownership.
I was saying my goodbyes. I was making my peace with this thing. I was mentally and emotionally letting it go.
And, instinctively, I knew I had to do this, I had to clear this, if I was ever to find its replacement. I had to finish the chapter. I had to end this story. I had to do this to ensure that the activity of finding a new car would go smoothly and joyously.
Otherwise, resistance would kick in and I would be driving a car that was destined to become dangerous at any moment. You must let go of the old in order to make room for the new.
And do the letting go joyously! Know that the thing you are letting go of will be in its right place.
So to finish my car story. The next morning I got up and did not fret about getting another car. I cleaned the house and had a wonderful lunch. In the early afternoon, I got on line and looked up some cars. I called 4 or 5 dealers. The fifth one had the exact year, model and color of car that I wanted. The bonus was it had really low mileage and the asking price was right (and it could only go down from there). It was in the late afternoon by now and the dealership was closing in an hour. I thought to myself, well its too late today. I'll go Monday night when they are open later.
Then I stopped myself. It was a tiny bit of resistance and fear of the new that made me think that. I told myself, I had dealt with any resistance. I was to get over to that dealership now.
I got to the dealership 15 minutes before they closed. I test drove the car. I negotiated the price and they even offered a good trade-in price for my old baby. Two hours later, I was driving off the lot with a new car, new license plates, all my stuff transfered from the old car to the new.
It was truly amazing. Truly a spirit-driven (pardon the pun) experience. It all worked out so perfectly. And I know it was because I had mentally cleared the way for the new. I thanked the old and opened myself to the new.
If you truly want new in your life, you must do the same.
