It’s been a traumatic weekend.
On Saturday night we were coming home from a Christmas gathering, driving down the country roads in the dark, when we hit a deer.
The deer was instantly killed. My car — my brand new $90,000 BMW 645ci — was instantly damaged.
We were fine, though shaken up.
I know it could have been worse. A friend knows a couple who hit a deer one night while driving, and the wife was killed.
We survived … but the drama continues.
When I called my insurance company, I was jolted to learn my insurance had lapsed. Apparently the bill fell through the cracks. Even though I’ve been with them for three decades, they let me go. I didn’t pay the last bill, so Allstate assumed I just went to another carrier.
From a marketing standpoint, that’s a mistake on their part. Had they made a call or two, they could have kept what they perceived as a lost customer, and my life would be easier today.
Here I am, a brand new luxury car sitting in my garage, badly damaged; no insurance on it or my BMW Z3; and me suffering the trauma of being in an accident and killing an animal.
What do I do?
What would you do?
One thing I did today was visit the site that everyone else seems to be visiting, too: http://www.cuteoverload.com/
The above picture is from it. One look and I smiled.
I looked at the other photos on the site and started grinning, almost laughing. This site has helped me get through today with a bit of happiness and laughter.
But I didn’t stop there.
The pictures are in some ways a distraction.
I needed to face the real issues here.
Whenever I’m not clear — a term I use in my book The Attractor Factor — I know it’s time to get help. Today I called one of the healers I know, a miracle worker I’ve turned to for five years now: Ann Taylor at http://www.innerhealing.com
I was lucky. Ann was home and took my call. She was very generous with her time. We explored the accident, the insurance mishap, and my feelings. Within minutes I was feeling better, I was moving forward, and even Allstate called back.
While they are denying my claim (which means I’m stuck with the repair bill), and they want me to sign up with them as a new driver with a new policy (which means I’ll look for a new carrier), I feel much clearer about the event.
I believe everyone attracts experiences for lessons. Get the lesson and you don’t need the experience. Don’t get the lesson and the experiences will get more intense, to get your attention.
I’ve learned from this one. I’d tell you what I learned but each person has their own insights. Mine may not be the same as yours.
To prove to you that my insight may not make sense to you, here’s the big lesson I got today:
“Orders from the Divine trump all other commitments.”
Doesn’t make sense all by itself (or does it?).
Here’s the short story behind it:
I went on a cruise last October. My intuition told me not to go, but I ignored it. As a result, the cruise wasn’t the greatest. More than that, the bill for the auto insurance arrived while we were away on that cruise. Had we been at home, we would have seen it and paid it. Instead, it got lost in a mountain of mail.
I never said no to the cruise because I wanted to keep my word. I said I would attend as a speaker and so I went, despite my uncomfortable feelings. But a higher authority was trying to tell me don’t go.
I didn’t listen.
Last Saturday I attracted a deer to warn me that I had no insurance. I could have been in a terrible accident, where not having insurance could have ruined me. As it turned out, hitting a deer, and surviving to tell you about it, was actually good news.
Now look at the lesson:
Had I paid attention to the divine voice within telling me to not go on the cruise — meaning had I paid attention to the higher authority telling me to ignore my previous commitment — we would have seen the insurance bill, paid it, and perhaps never met the deer.
Again, my lesson is this: “Orders from the Divine trump all other commitments.”
When you feel stuck or unclear, do something that lightens and clears your life — like call Ann Taylor. Find a way to learn from what happened (so it doesn’t happen again) and move forward.
I’ll talk more about this concept in my next book, which hits the stores on March 7th. Meanwhile, check your car insurance policy — and pay attention to your divine intuition.
Onwards.
Ao Akua,
Joe
PS — Because Allstate was so unkind to me, I went elsewhere. Since the most memorable insurance advertiser out there seems to be Geico, I went to www.Geico.com They were a joy to work with. Their online form was a breeze to use. I also used their online chat feature, which helped me with questions and assured me I was doing well with my answers. Later, when I spoke to someone on the phone to close the deal, they were quick, professional, and friendly. I signed with them. And yes, I saved a lot of money on my car insurance.
5 Comments
Your words have penetrated and I am very grateful for your sharing the many lessons you have experienced. As a result, I am looking at my own life to review all the ways I can apply your newly acquired wisdom. Regarding your Insurance Company experience, I learned a long time ago that it is not necessarily the big insurance company that matters as much as the individual quality of the agent. I have one who would and has called me personally any time there has been something requiring my attention. There are not too many of them out there but they can be found. Your article presents many great points. I hope everyone who reads it will study them all and apply them without hesitation.
Great post. One question: how does one back out of a previous commitment? I think a lot of people believe that the Divine does not sanction us breaking our word. It sounds to me like a battle between intuition and conscience.
Hi James! Ann Taylor, here. Great question. From my perspective, I believe the Divine wants us to follow what we are guided to do from within even when it involves breaking a commitment, knowing if we do what’s right for us, it will be right for everyone involved. For instance, years ago when I attended a John Bradshaw workshop he asked how many people knew they were making a mistake when they walked down the isle. About 60% of a very large audience raised their hands. Being honest with the other person would have involved breaking their world and saved a lot of trauma. A client of mine recently called his partner and said `you know even though it will cost us $30,000.00 and we said we would do this deal I don’t like it. I’d like to pass’ His partner said he was relieved because he felt the same way.
Hope this helps.
Hey Joe, happy birthday a couple weeks late.
Amazing how much we can learn when we’re open to receiving messages from the most unlikely places. And how easy it is to resort to the blame game, looking for reasons and excuses anywhere that doesn’t include us.
Thanks for your williness to share what comes up in your life, Joe. It’s usually a lesson we all can learn.
Pam Dodd
http://www.hunchline.com