Sunday, February 3, 2008

Lesson 1 - Always follow your instinct.

Ok, maybe this isn't the first lesson I've learned, but it is the latest. There is no need to over-analyze every situation. Just go with your initial gut feeling.


Sometimes I tend to think too much about things. I fear the ulterior motives of others, and in many cases make decisions out of self-preservation. I second guess myself. Sometimes it's the wrong decision. I almost made that mistake again recently. I'm not making excuses for myself, just reminding myself how silly I have acted lately.



A friend of mine recently wrote about buying a new car. It was an analogy, I think. Although it's a stretch, my current topic can also be compared to the new car buying experience.



For months I have been in the market for a new car. I saw one that I liked a while back. It was brand new model that wasn't even on the market yet. There was just something about it that I was drawn to. For months I waited for it to finally be at the dealerships so that I could see it in person. It was exactly what I was looking for, all the right features.



Of course, I had to shop around and test drive another model. We are all consumers, right? I just had to make be sure that this was the car that I wanted. Not that the other one wasn't nice. It really was. But that first one..........I knew it was for me. I should have trusted my instinct. But I didn't, and I almost lost the perfect car. Ok, no car is perfect, but you know what I mean.



My profession is sales. I know how it works. If you don't jump on the deal, you could potentially lose it. Forever. That is not bullshit, well most of the time it's not. In this case it was definitely not. I went back and forth with my salesperson for days. I'm not sure she trusted that I was serious about the purchase. I wheeled and dealed. That actually may not be the best choice of words, but it's all I could come up with. Finally I convinced her that I really wanted this car. She was willing to go the extra mile, and give me the chance to hold up my end of the bargain. I'm really glad that she did. I really like this car. I just hope that I don't do something silly to ruin it. I've made that mistake before as well.

Cars are a comittment. It's not just a test drive. It's not just a means of getting from "Point A" to "Point B". You want them to be around for awhile. You hope that if you take care of your car it will last a very long time. So you change your oil every 3,000 miles, and you get your scheduled tune ups done. It's all about the preventative maintenance. Of course, that doesn't neccesarily mean that you will never have problems. You have to plan for the inevitable. Accidents happen, nature happens. That is why we have auto insurance. ..and those nifty "get out of jail free" cards from the police officer that you know through your sister's neighbor. I prefer to never have to use those, but I did. And it sucked.

You can't live in constant fear that you may have bought a lemon. You just have to wait until it proves you wrong. Never know...maybe it won't.

The moral of the story is, if you care about something, treat it right. Always. From the very first day. Hopefully it will do the same. I believe that it is worth the risk. Maybe you will get dissappointed, but you never know until you try.