Today was a good test in how much meditation has softened my emotionality. The day started out crisp, bright and sunny. The kind of day I like in late Autumn. A little colder than usual, but still a nice day. I took my car in for what I expected to be some routine work; winterizing, new points and spark plugs. An hour and a half later, I left the shop with a loaner car. I had been given the prospect of either a $1300 bill or a $3100 bill, depending on the work I would let them do today. The key for me was, "what I would let them do". I chose the cheaper work, that would cost the same anywhere and I will shop around for the rest of the work. I went there thinking I would be spending about $400. That's a big difference from $1300 or $3100.
My rational mind took control when the service rep sat down with me. He told me what everything would cost and how much needed to be done. I felt a tiny surge of anger, took a deep breath and it was gone. I started asking questions, a lot of questions. My intuition in full force, I got a sense that this man was put in this particular job to sell to people. He was new there, I have never seen him before. I knew he was put there to sell people to get more work done. I'm not as gullible as I used to be. He was very friendly and used a "just your average Joe" approach. I got a revelation in a flash. I started asking him questions about himself. He revealed quite a bit, without realizing it. One of the things he told me, which he shouldn't have, was that he gets a commission. My questions were answered, without him realizing it. I decided to tell him what I would and would not have done.
After I left and was driving home, I realized I wasn't angry. I would normally have been. I was disappointed, but my heart wasn't racing. I wasn't cursing or swearing a blue streak while driving home. I went over some things in my head. My family had cut back on Christmas giving last year, when my father was in the hospital. It was more important to spend time with him. In the past I would have spent over $1000 between my family and my husband's family. So, I had to factor in that I would spend at least $500 less again this year. That would help meet this bill.
I had my annual eye exam last week and spent about $150 for the exam, frames and lenses with insurance. That was $30 less than last year and $150 dollars less than the previous year. This year I insisted on only seeing the discontinued frames they usually say they can't get. I searched and found four pairs of frames and found a pair for $10! That's the least amount of money for a pair of frames that I've ever seen available at my Opthamologist.
A few weeks ago, I ordered a HDMI DVD recorder/player. (We don't have cable.) I like to rent movies and record a few TV shows. The recorder I used with my small HD television, is fairly old. It can't record any shows because it is not compatible with HD signals. It was not performing so well. It began making a loud buzzing noise with every DVD I played, no matter how often I cleaned it. So I thought, "why not get a new one now?" I used reward points from my credit card. I had a lot of points. I never used them except to donate to charities once in awhile. There was never anything available on their website that I would like to use the points on. So I used the rest of the points. I got it for less than half the retail price. I splurged because I could get it for the price of a cheap one, by using the points. Just days after I got the new one and before I had time to set it up, the old one stopped working. What luck! I've never had a replacement for something like that, at the moment it broke down! I set up the new one just in time to record my favorite shows.
So in effect, things balance out. You will see me write that a lot. I see it more and more as I keep meditating and my karma begins to soften. I will spend less at Christmas, because it really isn't about stuff. Saving money on the glasses and the recorder helps a lot too. So I have to think about that, in reflecting on the unexpected repair cost for the car. The cost of the car repair is balanced by the savings on these other things. Everything balances out in the end. Through meditation, I am able to see this and better accept the setbacks in life. You can't avoid the bad, as much as you may try. You just have to accept it and recognize the bad to see and get the good.
Smokey Mountain Memories
A Little Slice of Heaven
