As I handed the keys to my pickup truck over to the man I had just signed the title over to, I began realizing that I was parting with the final entity of my formal life. Having sold my house and nearly all of my possessions in it, the truck was the only significant remaining asset I owned other than my beloved piano. I had barely driven the truck in over two years, having purchased a new car that boasted far better gas mileage and conformed much better to the simpler lifestyle that I had spent years attaining. Other than occasionally using it to haul garbage or a large store purchase, the truck had sat idle 99% of the time under a collection of pine trees at the former house much of that time. Having been indolent for so long, the battery had died months ago and an obtrusive layer of green film clearly that smothered the white exterior clearly advertised its slipshod neglect. The truck was dying. The neighbors were tired of watching its slow demise and I was tired of paying the monthly insurance for a vehicle I no longer drove hardly.
Having no defined purpose in my life anymore, I had decided to sell it. I replaced the battery and hired a gifted detail professional who reversed its aging process, bringing it back to its youthful appearance of shiny exuberance. Within twenty-four hours of placing the sign on the windshield, I had a buyer. As I watched the new owner start it up, that voice in the back of my head tried to convince me to terminate the transaction at the eleventh hour by echoing that addling mantra:
WHAT IF?
- WHAT IF I need to buy pine straw or mulch next spring?
- WHAT IF I want to put in some new shrubbery on the side of the house?
- WHAT IF my mom needs me to move something for her?
- WHAT IF my car won’t start one day and I need a backup vehicle?
- WHAT IF “…………”
“WHAT IF” is why so many garages and basements are bloated with “stuff” that consumes space, time and resources for those who continue to hold on to it all for no real good reason. That meddling phrase is the terminator of so many ventures and dreams.
I want to start my own business, but:
- WHAT IF the economy goes bad?
- WHAT IF my spouse loses their job?
- WHAT IF I don’t like working for myself?
I need to get out of this unhealthy damaging relationship, but:
- WHAT IF I don’t meet someone else?
- WHAT IF I get lonely?
- WHAT IF I can’t get by on my own?
Yes, some of our greatest ideas have been created as a result of that phrase, but for the most part, “What if” is a distractor. It paralyzes us, making us incapable of taking risks or creating the inertia to never clean out the clutter from our lives, like an old pickup truck that is decaying on my property. Yes, I may need a truck a couple days next year, and the cost to rent one from Home Depot or Lowes for the rare times I need a truck is far cheaper than paying auto insurance month after month. It is also a nominal fee to pay for not having to worry if the truck will start when I need it to or if there will be an oil leak that stains the driveway or the street below.
I didn’t act on “WHAT If.” I watched that truck drive away to a better place, both for it and myself. The truck will most likely be used and appreciated more. As for me, I have one less thing taking up clutter in my world, one less bill to pay, one less worry, all of which frees up space, time and energy within my universe for new fulfilling opportunities to flow into my life. No more what ifs!
