Two Blondes, a Parking Lot, and Magical Thinking

What happens when you take two strong-willed women who are used to getting their way and tell them they are trapped in a parking lot for two hours? Here’s a hint – one of said women has been boning up on the power of optimism and the laws of attraction and manifestation, so the answer might surprise you.So here’s the story – last weekend I was at the ACL Music Festival with my friend Karen, and we had just returned to our car in the VIP parking lot after a long day of vodka/iced tea-drinking and concert-watching. We got back to the car at about 9:10 and pulled up to the gate to leave when lo and behold – LOCK DOWN. The attendant informed us that the lot was closed down for two hours to allow all of the pedestrian traffic to exit the festival. We were agape at this news, and quickly began to argue and plead, to which he simply responded, “It says so right there on your parking pass, lot closed from 9 to 11.”  (Seriously??? When was the last time you read the fine print on your parking pass?)We immediately started trying to find ways to get out of there. Maybe Karen’s husband (who works with the festival promoters) could flex some “it’s who you know” muscle and get us special treatment. We called him up, but no luck. Maybe we should walk a mile or so downtown and get a taxi. Nope, as we could see on the road from which we were being blocked, there were literally thousands of people spilling out of the festival, probably with the same goal. Even another attempt at charming the “parking lot Nazi” (as we had affectionately dubbed him) yielded no results. “An hour-and-a-half if you’re lucky,” he said. Final answer. Naturally, as we were cold, tired and neither of us like to be told “no”, this information did not sit well.In that moment I remembered a teleseminar by Alexis Neely that I recently attended, in which she discussed the power of letting go. She stressed that when you fixate on a specific desired outcome, especially when you fixate on how to make it happen, you literally strangle the possibility of attaining it. Instead, she suggested getting really clear about your intention, but then surrendering attachment and relaxing into the moment, rather than struggling and trying to control the situation. It’s not your job to worry about HOW something is possible – the universe has ways of making things happen that you could never even conceive of – all you need to do it trust that is IS possible. I figured, what the heck, let’s give it a try.I told Karen, “I think we need to let go. We’ve got seat heaters in the car; we can put our feet on the dash and spend some time catching up. Let’s just put our intention out there into the universe that we want to go home, but let’s stop trying to force it to happen.” After looking at me like I was ever so slightly crazy (which I won’t deny), we pulled up as close to the gate as possible, Karen put the seats back and we relaxed into a conversation about life, memories, etc. I don’t have a sense how much time went by because we were having such a great talk, but I know it can’t have been more than 15-20 minutes, when suddenly we heard shouts and looked up to see that we were being frantically waved out of the lot. An unexpected break had occurred in the flow of foot traffic and they had allowed a few of the cars to leave! After hoots and hollers and high fives on our part, I looked at Karen and said, “We got out because we let go!” We were giddy all the way home.Now you might be skeptical and think, oh that’s just luck. And sure, this was a pretty minor example of getting out of a parking lot. But what if it’s true? What if you could apply this principle to something bigger that you’ve been wishing for in your life?According to Marianne Williamson, “our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure.” Nature gives us some great examples of this concept. I was running on the beach not too long ago and came across a lifeguard using his megaphone to advise couple of boogie boarders who had become stuck in a rip tide. “Stay on your boards,” he directed. “Do not try to get off and swim, get back on your boards and let the waves bring you in.” In other words, if you want to make it to the shore, go with the flow!So why don’t you give it a try? Start small if you want – attracting a great parking space at Target, for example. I’ve seen it happen in both big and small ways, and I really am starting to believe that anything can happen if you get clear about what you want, trust that it’s possible, and let go.Have you ever experienced the power of letting go in a big or small way? How did it feel?