Recently I drove from Toronto to Vermont where I was speaking at a women’s gathering. I’d been looking forward to this road trip because I was going to get to sleep in my car! Now this hasn’t always been one of my goals, but since I spent most of 2018 on my book tour traveling in a truck camper and camping along the way, I was missing life on the road.
I since downsized to a Toyota Highlander so I could still go camping and sleep in the car as needed.
Well this was the trip!
After 8 hours on the road, I found an “onroute” rest area to pull into for the night. Now this onroute was not on the same side of the highway as I was going. In order to access it, I had to find a little sideroad that crossed the highway and come in the back way. As I drove up the little laneway towards the big rest area, the access to it was barred off with large cement blocks. Pedestrian access only.
That suited me fine because that meant I was far enough away from the noise of the large trucks who sometimes leave their engines running for heat or electricity during the night. I pulled in under a tree along the laneway and settled in.
The back seats were down and a single mattress spread out lengthwise. I looked at my open sleeping bag and my fluffy feather pillow inviting me to bed. Another car pulled up and a woman got out. I wondered if she was staying the night too. It was always a bit more reassuring with at least another vehicle there.
My heart thumped with anticipation. I was excited. I wondered if I’d be comfortable. I wondered if I’d sleep. I crawled into my snug, little nest and closed my eyes.
Daylight began to shine through the windows. I slept the whole night through.
I pressed the car door opener. Nothing happened. The familiar whistling sound and the blinking of my headlights didn’t happen. My battery was flat. How did that happen?
I sat there for a few moments being with this new reality.
My head started to figure this out, “I need jumper cables. But how will the other car get to where I am? Their car can’t get through the blocked access and I had no idea where this little laneway was from this side of the highway. Maybe I could find the person who owns the car near me in the laneway and maybe they have jumper cables…” My heart began to speed up thinking about all the effort this was going to take.
I realized quickly this was too complicated to figure out…so I did what I know to do. I let it all go. I stopped thinking about it…and the only thing I kept in my mind was the vision that I needed to get back on the road. Something would happen to resolve this.
I call this “hold the vision and let go of the plan.” I have a whole chapter dedicated to this in both of my books.
I calmed right down. In fact I felt really good.
I knew I needed to get help but I had no idea what kind of help or what to say. Walking into the big rest area building I headed for Tim Hortons. It was early in the morning and there were only a few people around. Standing in the middle of the Tim Horton area I made an announcement, “Can anyone help me start my car? My battery is flat.”
A few people shook their heads. Then this man came over. “I’ve got just what you need,” he said sipping the coffee he just bought. He was driving one of the larger trucks and I really wondered how this was going to work…his truck starting my car? I told him where my car was and that his truck couldn’t get near it. “Don’t need to,” he said as he handed me a battery starter kit.
We plugged the cables of the kit on my battery and the car engine started. Just like that.
Problem solved in 10 minutes and I could not have possibly thought of that solution.
This is what happens when we “hold the vision…and let go of the plan” and let go of all the “over working” of our head to figure out how. I find when I hold the vision and get into action, paying attention to where I feel guided to go and what I feel guided to do…the vision unfolds before my eyes.
If you want to read more about this topic, you can purchase my book here.
