Fabulous Friday This Week Has A Real Personal Twist for Me
I finally went out and got the new computer I have needed for sometime.
Although it is a hunk of metal that sets and receives bits of info, still it is shiny, new and finally has some speed and new capacities to help me. YAY.
HERE COMES THE MIRACLE STORY
Today I went in to pick up my computer from a great guy who has his own computer and home theater business close to where I live. From there I was going to meet a girlfriend for coffee.
I thought about it as I pulled into the Starbucks parking lot - do I take this new baby indoors with me or hide it in the trunk? I chose to take it in with me, wanting to keep it safe, and repeating the mantra to myself...
DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT FORGET YOUR NEW LAPTOP
I had a business meeting following our girl fest and of course, I left too late so I hustled out the cafe' with purse in one hand, car keys in the other.
Not even the slightest inclination was on my brain about the new laptop that was sitting on the floor by the window.
Almost at the next appointment, I went through the mental checklist of what I needed to think and prepare before heading into the meeting. It dawned on me like a ton of bricks...and although I was on the phone at the time, I groaned out "OMG - OH NO OH NO OH NO!" My business partner on the other side NO DOUBT had numb ear for hours following the conversation.
I was in such a panic, I couldn't speak and hung up the phone. Immediately I called the Starbucks.
Of course, at first they don't know what I am saying, and then she left the phone to go check.
No, I am sorry there is nothing inside the store or outside on the tables. No sorry.
I was literally horrified that I had done something so absolutely stupid. I asked the woman I was meeting if she could please excuse me and we could reschedule, and said I needed to head back to the original spot (now 45 away as it's rush hour traffic). She was gracious, hugged me, and while in her embrace I hear that she is saying a quick prayer for me and my new and vanished laptop, to be reunited.
While driving, I cried, groaned, moaned, agonized and tried to think of who I could call, what I could do.
THEN THE MIRACLE HAPPENED
I remembered the morning meditation. It was from Eckhart Tolle and I had shared it with my girlfriend over coffee only 2 or 3 hours before (and on Facebook earlier that morning) with a "sure, I believe and practice this" attitude. Get ready...this is a bender:
This doesn't say GO WITH FLOW, or TAKE A CHILL PILL, or EMBRACE SUFFERING. You know, all the typical meditation mumbo jumbo that is supposed to help me be a better survivor. :-)
It says - accept it as if you had CHOSEN IT.
When I shared it with Carole over coffee I remember she said, "Oh No, that would be hard to do," and I thought at the time, "well not really - you train yourself that way."
Now only 2 hours later, I am remembering the meditation, the words, and my comfy arrogance with the concept.
Why was I even driving back there anyway? The girl who checked said she looked everywhere and it wasn't there. But as I drove I kept thinking about these words of Tolle's and how would I go about DOING that "Chosen Thing".
SO, pondering the depths of the idea - I asked for guidance, and this is what I did:
I said to Life - "I take full responsibility for this incident." I not only foolishly forgot the laptop but I also accept that I have chosen this moment - it is my creation, and it is as it should be. I decided that when I walked back out of the Starbucks door, after going in to check on things myself,
if I did not find the laptop, I would be happy, just like if I did. And I would accept that there is more to the picture than I realize and that all is well.
You can only imagine my surprise when I went right back to my seat, looked on the floor by the stool to see my laptop, in the case, setting by the stool, next to the two men who took our table when we left. They had been there the whole time- standing guard as it were.
I know, you will tell me that no matter what I had chosen, the laptop would have been there - but I am not so sure. All I do know, is that before I went into that cafe, I had once again become the master of my destiny - valuing joy and well-being over possessions, accepting the uncertainty of my mistake as an opportunity for wonder.
And tonight, as I type symbolically and literally on my new laptop, I am exactly that: full of wonder!
Have a fabulous Friday!
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