Interestingly enough, yesterday I found in my email inbox an email from an automobile service station I used to use. The message line read: Your Car Is Due For A Service. I looked at it and thought, “Yes, it is. I’m long overdue for an oil change.” I didn’t even open the email, though; I didn’t even notice that it wasn’t from the service station I typically use now.

Last night I parked my car at the high school so my daughter could drive it home. She called me about 15 minutes later to tell me it wouldn’t start. Sure enough, it wouldn’t. The battery would have been the most common problem, but all the lights were working in the car. (And if it had been the battery, I would have figured that I was out of energy…using it all up by doing too much. I needed a recharge.) Instead, after along wait for AAA, we discovered that it was what I suspected, the starter motor.

Ah, the car couldn’t start at all. What did that mean for me? I couldn’t get going. Like a racehorse at the starting line, I wasn’t getting out of the gate. I couldn’t move forward. Why?

I’m looking at my day today (as my car is in the shop and I’m stuck at home) and I see that I have not gotten to the most important things I need to do to get  going–to start the most important projects. I’m not taking the next step to achieve my goals. I haven’t devoted the time to them. I’m leaving them to last instead of putting them first. I’m doing all the ancillary things I think will get me there but I’m not tackling the big ones.

And maybe I have fear…fear of moving forward, fear of getting started. How about you? Does fear ever stop you from getting started or moving on to the next phase of what you need to do?

The service station called a little while ago. I have a very old car with lots of miles on it; they said the bolts holding the engine down need replacing as well. Plus the steering shaft needed some work.

Interesting. I’ve been working away at this same goal for a long time…so long that, like my car’s engine, I need to re-bolt it down again, firm up my commitment to achieving it, tighten up the foundational elements that will ensure that all the foundational parts stay with me as I move forward. If the “engine” drops out, I won’t get very far.

And, I’ve recently been trying to change my direction a bit, to hone my final destination and figure our how to navigate to that end point. No wonder the steering shaft on my car needed work!

About 15 years ago my car’s brakes were recalled. Despite the dealer looking at them and telling me they were fine, they went out on me. As I coasted safely to a stop (thank God), I thought about why I would have brake problems. It dawned on me that I was rushing headlong through my life with no ability to stop. Hmmm. A message from my car.

Today, I’m taking note of the messages from my car (and in my email inbox). I suggest you do, too! Learning to see, hear and understand the messages we receive daily helps us achieve our highest human potential. This skill allows us to change; it’s a tool for personal growth.  So, when life seems to send you events or circumstances that appear negative or troublesome, don’t just dismiss them. Look at them carefully; learn to see them clearly as messages–synchronistic messages offering you a means to change, grow, achieve, and live more fully.

Usually I look for symbolism first: Hmmm. Left knee. Knees, or joints, are about willingness to move forward and flexible attitudes. The left side is the feminine side. This makes me wonder if I’m afraid to make the decision to go with a new agent who has agreed to represent me. This means change and the possibility of actually getting to write my books — to use my creative nature — and to succeed.

Or maybe it’s about anger. I was angry when I fell. Maybe I have to learn not to be so angry. And I need to learn to accept my situation, one with which I’m not so happy at the moment. (My son and I were arguing about our living arrangements.) I need to appreciate what we do have — an affordable place to say, good health, each other, the chance for him to dance and learn and grow.

Maybe, if I haven’t done any major damage to my knee, I’ll be forced to go to a gym and work out to strengthen my legs and the rest of my body. I had started to work out last week, but I didn’t really want to continue. I was balking…and I really do need to get in shape. Maybe this will force me to do so, create a great opportunity to do so.

Some might say I just simply got hurt. It’s possible, that something just happened…no rhym or reason. What can I learn from the experience, though? Not to storm off angry. Not to let things get to me. To be more accepting.  To be more appreciative.

No matter what happens to us, even when things are going well and they take a turn for the worse for seemingly no reason, we can always learn something, we can always find an opportunity in diversity. If that is true, than there really is a reason behind every event. Without it, we might not grow and develop and get to the next place we find ourselves. Everything benefits us in some way. The old adage says, “That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger.” And we’re told that God only never gives us more than we can handle in any one life time. I believe we are given those issues and circumsances and exeriences for some reason.

So, even this must have a reason…must offer me some way to grow.