Why you need to give your parking ticket away

Why you need to give your parking ticket away

I haven’t been inspired in the last few weeks. You can even ask my wife how often I have complained about it.  I’ve tried all kinds of ways to get my inspiration back, like going for a walk, doing sport, helping a friend logging trees in the woods, going to the movies, eating out, and so on, but none of these really helped. Well, today I got my inspiration back, but it came in an unexpected way. I didn’t even have to invest in it at all. It cost me nothing. With the snap of a finger I had my inspiration back and it came while in a hospital parking lot.

I was grumpy.  I could use some different words to describe my frustration, but they would not be appropriate. Nevertheless, it was a small, busy parking lot and I was already running late. There were so many bad drivers out that I was screaming behind the wheel. They couldn’t make their mind up about where to park.  They obviously had time. I didn’t. Finally, I found a parking spot. I got out of my car and went to the ticket machine. I guess I had a really angry look on my face, because there was a guy in front of me and he hurried after one look at me. When I got back to my car to put the ticket in the window, I heard a man behind me asking an older lady “Would you like to have my ticket? There is more than a hour left on it.” The lady said Yes and Thank You a lot and how nice it was of him.  My bad mood was blown away after that. There are actually nice people out there! I couldn’t have felt any better at that moment.

I made my visit in the hospital, but my mind was still on the man with the ticket. When I got back to my car I took the parking ticket and threw it in the side of the door. I closed the door and started the engine, when I realized I had forgotten something. I stopped and got out of the car. I saw an older man. One of those that annoyed me so much when I first arrived. I asked him if he would like to have my ticket, because there was more than one hour left. He gave me a big smile and he must have said Thank You three times. He also said that young men are not so bad after all.

Since then I have been thinking positive again and I am now inspired to write about my little experience. And the nice thing about it all is that I didn’t have to pay a cent.  I would have left the ticket in the side of the door and it would have been just another piece of paper to throw away. But isn’t it strange that we try to buy ourselves happiness and in this situation I got it back without paying anything? How often do I listen to advertisements and hope to be happier by buying a new product? Maybe it is something for you too.

Give something away that doesn’t cost you anything and receive a little pick-me-up, a big smile, a hug, or even a thank you. I know that this will work for me to get my inspiration back.

Be good! Your Sebastian.