The Borrowed Car

I’m going to describe an event, what we in the spiritual “biz” call an “external event.” That term merely means that it happens outside of our individual body/mind, not inside of it. This is a visualization exercise, please play along.

Here is the external event:

You have just arrived in a car to a destination. You turn off the ignition and remove the keys. You open the door and step out of it. A person is standing there. You hand them the keys and you walk away from the car never to drive it again.

Now for the internal events:

In the first visualization the person, you hand the keys to a friend. You had need of a vehicle and they let you borrow their car. You thank them for the use of it and you walk away never to use it again.

In the second visualization, the person you hand the keys to is repossessing the vehicle. You are the “owner” of the car and they are here to take it from you. You reluctantly hand them the keys and walk away never to use it again.

What was the difference between the two internal experiences? Lean into one then back into the other.

The external event is identical. The internal experiences are quite different. What is the difference? One is done in surrendered gratitude, the other in resistance.

Again, the external events are the same. Arrive, hand over keys, walk away.

“I may not be in total control of what happens to my life but I certainly am in charge of how I choose to perceive my experience." - Jill Bolte Taylor Ph.D.

This is what she’s talking about. The difference between these two internal experiences is not WHAT is happening, but HOW I am responding to it. In one scenario I’m bitter and miserable in the other I am grateful and joy-filled. What is the difference? My expectations. My ideas of what should and shouldn’t be. In the first visualization, I am thrilled at the opportunity to have access to the vehicle, in the second I feel it’s being taken from me.

What if we play another visualization game?

This time this body/mind/life is YOURS and things are being DONE TO IT. And in the second it’s the Goddesses and she’s letting you borrow it.

In the first visualization, this is a life where things “happen to me” and I am in resistance when I don’t get what I “want.”

In the second it’s a game that the Goddess is “letting me play.”

“Not my but thy…” you would say when God brings you experiences you didn’t expect or “want.”

“Not my but thy…” you would say when The Goddess brings you gifts and bounty.

“Not my but thy…” you would say to God when God comes calling to repossess it.

Play with these scenarios and see which internal states you prefer.