Recently, the online newspapers I usually scan all featured the Wal-Mart special on their front pages. Dirty iPhone 3G, $97.00.
I nearly drowned after paying over $400 for my husband’s iPhone Christmas present. I called AT&T to see if they had the same deal since I didn’t have an iPhone and was expecting an upgrade. When Walt, my husband, asked me if he wanted an iPhone for my birthday, I turned him down. Why should we pay another $400 when you could borrow yours?
The agent said “No”, they were not offering the same offer as Wal-Mart, and if I wanted to upgrade to an iPhone it would cost me $250.00 with tax. So the Wal-Mart price was an incredible deal.
I ran out the door and headed to the nearest Wal-Mart. Once inside, I ran through the halls to the electronic counter, only to be told by the clerk, “We’re sold out.”
Like a cowgirl riding her horse, I jumped into my truck and headed to the nearest Wal-Mart. Again I ran through the corridors to the electronics section and again met the same fate. Sold out.
There was another Wal-Mart less than 10 miles away. It wouldn’t make sense to travel further only to be told “exhausted” too.
This time, I controlled myself. I began to visualize myself sitting at home with my new iPhone browsing the apps, a big smile on my face. When the voice in my head kept telling me that this last store would also be sold out, I refused to listen. I knew that if I kept believing, I could create my own reality.
So, there I was at the third and final store. This time I casually walked over to the electronic counter. I remembered the universal saying: “There is no competition.” I don’t have to beat anyone, anywhere. My iPhone will be waiting for me. It may be the last, but it will be mine. I claimed it.
I confidently told the clerk behind the counter that I wanted to buy an iPhone. “We’re exhausted,” he said. Sold out??? He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
He had followed the universal law, believing that he would have a new iPhone that day at that fabulous price of $97.00. How could the Universe betray me? I did the right thing. I refused to let the doubts enter my head. I visualized the iPhone in my hand. I ordered that damn thing in my life. How could they run out when I followed the Universal laws?
The two employees behind the counter gave me weird looks, maybe because I was getting horns. This could not be possible. “Do you think someone bought an iPhone again?” I desperately asked. Maybe someone’s buyer’s remorse would be my gain. They both shook their heads and backed away from me like they were going to explode. I thought so, but then I thought differently. It was not his fault.
Then I must have looked like a rejected Charlie Brown, sneaking off muttering to myself with my head hanging, completely mortified. I needed a blanket and a bottle to curl up in a fetal position.
As I was about to leave the store, I saw the customer service desk. A lightbulb went off in my head. Returns. With renewed energy, I approached the counter. I couldn’t wait for the clerk who was counting money for a customer.
“Excuse me,” I said to the clerk, interrupting her transaction. “Did someone bring an iPhone?” After realizing that I didn’t lose an iPhone, but wanted one that someone else bought and returned, he ended up with the customer and turned to look in the return cart from that morning. No. No iPhone returned.
I almost dragged myself out of the store and into my car and sat in the store parking lot staring into space. What did I do wrong?
Finally, I called Walt. He always knows exactly what to say and he has the right solutions for many of my challenges. He knew he couldn’t fix this, but at least his voice would make me feel better.
“I did everything right,” I mumbled. “I can’t believe they’re all sold out.” He was devastated now. It wasn’t about the stupid phone anymore, it was about Universal law not working for me. Believe and you will achieve it. This is what we teach in our workshops to others.
“You skipped a step,” he said. “You didn’t let him go.” I thought he had released the damn iPhone, but obviously he hadn’t.
Instead of trying to make things happen, in my case trying to “get” the iPhone, I should have stepped back and let it happen. Instead, I became almost desperate for something I didn’t really need in the first place. I already had a cell phone that works. And I allowed myself to be thrown off balance by something I didn’t need. Sucked into society’s advertising machine. People across the country were starving. They needed food. Now that’s something to be desperate for.
Looking back on the day and putting things in perspective, I didn’t let the iPhone come to me. This can only happen when we are not attached to getting something in our lives. In other words, surrender to wanting the thing, the person, the house, the money, the health, in order to have it. Want means lack. Giving up doesn’t mean giving up what you want, it means giving up the way the ego works so hard.
The desperate need to have something in our lives only drives it away. Why? Because we are telling the universe “I don’t have it”. So the universe, which is subjective, tells us, “You’re right. You don’t have it and you’re not going to get it.”
The key is to feel that you already have what you want. That good feeling, that positive energy of knowing that you already have what you want, even if it hasn’t materialized yet, draws it to you.
“Stop by an AT&T store and just talk to them,” Walt said. “Maybe you can get a deal like Wal-Mart.” I told him I doubted it because I called ahead and was told it would be $250 including tax.
“Just go,” he said, “you never know.”
I drove to the nearest AT&T store and thought he was right. If it’s meant for me to have it, I will have it. If not, forget it. I let go and stopped loving the iPhone.
I went to the AT&T store, and the seller looked up my account to see what price upgrade I was on, even though he knew the answer. To my surprise and amazement, he said that thanks to my upgrade I could get the same iPhone that Wal-Mart was offering for $99.00 Two dollars more. The AT&T lady I spoke to earlier was wrong.
So here I am, as I envisioned it, sitting here writing this with my new $99.00 iPhone by my side. I have already explored the applications. A smile is on my face, just as I visualized it. The iPhone drama was an exhausting lesson that cost me a tank of gas and six hours that I won’t get back. But I will remember the lesson.
Visualize, know you already have it, and most importantly, let it go.
