As you allllllllllll know, we’re selling it all and moving abroad.
This includes selling our car.
There’s a “thing” though… a glitch? A bump in the process?
We want to sell our car and we also want to use it until the end of February when we leave. I kept thinking that we should just put it for sale sometime in February and hope for the best that we’ll get just the right buyer at the right time. I mean, after all, I’ve been experiencing some major flow, where things are lining up just as they should, optimally, while we prepare to move. It’s truly awesome… I’m a believer that the universe DOES conspire to help you, if you’re open to it.
Case in point: my friend Cindy.
She came over last week and we were chatting about the car situation. She had a simple idea. She said, “Put it up for sale now and tell people in the ad that you need the car until the end of February.”
“Huh. OMG, yes, why not?”
So, I did that. And, it wasn’t even February.
And, guess what?
Someone came to look at it yesterday, the first people.
And, guess what?
It sold.
Awesome… We worked out a deal to have use of the car until the end of February -> Perfect!
They left, I enjoyed the success for three minutes before anxiety decided it wanted to creep in.
Suddenly I was thinking, “Oh fuck, what if something happens to the car between now and then? What if they back out and we’re not able to sell it as easily? Oh fuck, again, what if something happens to the car between now and then? I want to get rid of the car next week instead, can we survive without a car? Can we Uber? Can we borrow mom’s car? Can we rent a car for the month?”
My mind went this way and that way and every which way.
I was no longer enjoying the sizzle of success at having sold the car so effortlessly. 😔
Here’s the thing, though, I recognized it.
I saw what I was doing. Mindfulness helps you become more aware of feelings which then helps soften them as needed. I didn’t freak out, and I was mindful of anxiety that wanted to be front and center.
I looked at it. I told the anxiety, “I see you here, and I don’t need you here. Everything is in flow mode and anxiety definitely doesn’t have a ticket.”
Then, I defaulted to my bulletpoint check list of handling anxiety or stress, much the same as I did when my Global Entry card went missing. Much like I have a check list when I address the ball in golf (a different list, of course).
- I reminded myself, “This is neither good or bad, it just is.” (Taoism)
- I asked myself, “What is the worst that could happen?” I went down that rabbit hole and decided that the worst that could happen is the car gets in an accident, we get it fixed, we might need to sell it for less as a result.” Hmmm 🤔 that’s not the end of the world.
- I welcomed the anxiety to the party so I could deal with it instead of burying it.
- I said, “Life if truly great! I don’t have cancer! HOW can I possibly stress about a car situation like this when I have so much to be grateful for?!” (Realizing that I don’t have cancer, i.e., I’m healthy is a quick way for me to calm my shit down and experience gratitude.)
- I knew that even if something did happen to the car and I needed to deal with then, why worry about dealing with it now when it hasn’t even happened? That’s a waste of time.
Then, I felt better. Immediately.
In past years, this would’ve been different, and I wouldn’t have come out as well.
I still told Greg that we should park farther out in parking lots as a tiny pre-caution. I also worked on the calendar to see how early we could transfer ownership. Just being smart and practical. Then, I let it go.