If you’re from Burlington, North Carolina, you know what it
means when you’ve parked downtown and find a little orange ticket underneath
your windshield wiper: you’ve got a parking ticket. If you’re not from
Burlington, you may have had a similar experience in your city. Those little
orange tickets are not my friend. In the past few years, I’ve paid….well…more
than my share of parking ticket fines.
And every time, I kick myself for throwing money down the drain. (I mean,
it’s $10 a pop; $30, if you forget to pay on time.)
So, I decided this year was going to be different. Very
different. Not only did I vow to decrease the amount of money I’m throwing away
on those little orange beasts, but I promised myself: No more parking tickets!
Period. (Besides, all that wasted money could have bought me a TON of
chocolate!)
Let me tell you, it’s been a challenge. Especially on cold, rainy
days where I REALLY didn’t want to walk the few blocks from the parking lot to
the office. So, yesterday evening, I walked to my car, in the all day parking
lot, and what did I see? You guessed it. The dreaded orange beast, tucked
beneath the windshield wiper. Ugg!
My first thought was…..well….I can’t say that word out loud.
I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I mean, it was like the meter maid
had gone crazy. (I’m sure there’s a more appropriate—and modern—term than ‘meter
maid’ but you get the picture.) And it wasn’t just me. As far as the eye could see, there were
parking tickets on every car! In a lot that was designated for all day parking.
What?
Have you ever had a moment when things weren’t exactly what
they seemed? Well, this was one of those moments. As I swiped the dreaded thing
off the windshield, I realized, it wasn’t a ticket at all. Instead, it was an
advertisement. What a relief!
I turned over the piece of paper to find this:
Then I realized that I had let my first response color my
attitude. Even for a brief moment. I had reacted to what I thought was true
before looking more closely to see the real truth. (Of course, looking at that little slip of paper, I'm just glad ALL the cars had them; I might have been a little offended if they had singled me out!)
I learned a lesson
yesterday, and it’s summed up in this quote by Stedman Graham, a businessman: “People
who let events and circumstances dictate their lives are living reactively. That
means they don’t act on life, they only react to it.”
Today, I’ve made another promise to myself. Oh yeah, I’m
still going to live out 2013 without any parking tickets. But, going forward, I’m
also going to “act on life” rather than react. My first response will be well
thought out before I respond.
· What can you do, starting now, to eliminate knee-jerk reactions?
· If you’re parking in downtown Burlington, watch out for those little orange beasts!
