Spiritual Lessons From my Electric Car

I decided to recently invest into an electric car – the Nissan Leaf - as it suits my way of living by contributing less to emissions and global warming. I chose to trust my intuition and went for it without much thought – perhaps it’s the impulsive Aries in me. I usually find my decisions with the least thought turn out to be the best decisions. And here is what my Leaf is teaching me...

First – it is a symbol of growth.
 On the outside, it looks like a fancy, perhaps materialistic product of modern society. I look at it differently. It is a symbol of my beliefs and growth as a human. I’ve never actually invested into something so expensive that I can call my own. It represents a part of me that craves independence and stands up for her beliefs even if others frown upon it. And, it may just be a car, but I intend to inspire people to get one like mine, to help save the earth. Small steps can make a big difference – even if it’s one person at a time.

Second - non attachment to money.
I had to trust the universe that money is energy – it comes and goes. I had to give up a big portion of my savings which was easy yet difficult. Non attachment and trust is necessary in this case.
As the employee at the dealership was counting some money I brought, I watched and said – “Actually I don’t really care that much about money – its just pieces of paper!! Non-attachment... money comes and goes.”  They probably thought I was crazy at this point. Her response: “well you may not care about money but a lot of people do!!” (she said this light heartedly, but it made me realize how consumed by money this world really is, and I am trying to separate myself from this). I encourage everyone to do the same – stop being a slave to money. Enjoy life for what it is, we are here to help each other, grow, and elevate ourselves. Material things will never bring true happiness.
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Third – Slow down, be in the moment, have patience.
One thing I realized after driving this car for just a few days is the battery gets drained much faster during high speeds. My pace of life is going to change a bit now by request of my car. I may not always take the highway and speed to my final destination the way I used to.  What has happened is I am literally enjoying every moment of driving, slowly accelerating and slowly turning, seeing everything in the moment, and this slower pace has actually reduced my anxiety while driving. I feel like I am living “yoga” while driving – I’m meditating and fully aware of my surroundings. This car doesn’t give many options for driving fast without draining the battery quickly – i take this as a way to slow down and enjoy the ride. Yet another symbol – slowing down and enjoying the ride of life. Its not about the destination, its about the journey.