Go on, give it a listen!
I pulled up to the car in front of the empty space, looked behind me and then . . . I changed my mind. I thought, “Nah! This space is too small.” There weren’t any other available spaces on my street so I made a U-turn to find parking further away on another street. As I drove I looked at that empty spot again and thought, “What am I doing? My car would totally fit!” It was late and I had a car full of stuff I had to bring inside so I had no desire to make a trek. I made another U-turn and went back to that original spot.
Take 2: I was determined to get it in. I actually tried this time and although I had to be more aggressive and precise, it was a success.
I totally mindshifted myself during this experience. So here’s the deal. Sometimes the universe brings us exactly what we’re asking for, but because our request doesn't take the form that we think it would or should take, we sometimes drive away to find another opportunity, to find another parking spot. I almost drove away because I didn’t have very much wiggle room, but the truth remains, this was a perfect spot considering my needs and motivation. The real problem I had with this space was that I had to work a little harder to get into it.
This conversation goes much deeper than parking spaces. Ultimately, what personal or professional opportunities do you miss because you have to work a little harder than originally anticipated? What opportunities have you said no to because you have to work a different way than what you would have preferred? Which relationships have we turned down because the prospective partner didn’t quite look like or do what we thought he/she should?
Take a moment to reflect on your patterns.
- What’s your tendency when faced with a situation or person that seems to be the answer to something you’ve asked for?
- Do you keep an open mind or do you tend to say, "No thanks G-money, I'll wait for the next bus"?
- Or are you one of those people who realizes that "Hey, I may have to work a smidge harder or different here, but this opportunity could work." At least if it doesn’t work out you will have tried, as opposed to saying NO from the outset. It’s very possible my car would not have fit. I could’ve overestimated how much space I had, but at least I wouldn’t have driven away because I judged the space before attempting to get in it.
And last but not least, a lovely byproduct of parking in tighter spaces is the precision driving and aggressiveness that makes me a better parker and increases my confidence when faced with future tight spots. I’m talking about parking spaces, but you do realize that I’m really not ;-)
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If you liked this mindshift, you might also appreciate a similar-themed post -
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