Last weekend I decided it was time to sell my car and buy something I have been dreaming about for the last few years. My car – which was the car of my dreams in college – was now 13 years old and I was getting frustrated with a few issues.
Friday night I cleaned out my car, took pictures of it, and pumped myself up for buying a new car (a process which I love). Saturday I arrived at the car dealership ready to test drive the new car and make the deal. I test drove the car, loved it, and then sat down thinking “this is finally going to happen”. I had looked up how much my car was worth and was sure I could get a decent amount. When the dealer came back with a number that was not satisfactory – an unwilling to budge I was completely not prepared. How could I let my car go for so little when, like the dealer told me, it was worth more to me than anyone else. As I took a deep breath, I in that moment realized something – I really did not want to sell my car. I always told everyone this is the car that I want my kids to drive when they are old enough (my oldest is 6).
Not selling my car quickly went from a disappointment to a big relief. I realized I could fix the minor things that were bothering me, live with a few others, but really have more time to enjoy driving it. I always wanted to drive an old Volvo – and that is exactly what I was doing.
The lesson I walked away with:
Focus on what you love, not what you do not love.
I had spent too much time focusing on a handful of issues vs. that I actually was driving a great car, a car I had as my desktop picture back in college. If you spend too much time focused on the negative – you can miss the positive right in front of you.
