This is a photo of the glorious bathtub my husband chose for our updated bathroom. Bless him, he knows I love a good bath, he really went for it when he was selecting just the right model to host my future soaks.
Only problem – the location of the drain in this beauty didn’t jibe with our plumbing. [Cue the sad trumpets.]
We were in the thick of an interior renovation, trying to get as much done so we could move in and stop paying rent and mortgage. So we ordered a new tub with the right drain location (which is also beautiful, I might add) and kept going. This first tub, which we never even unwrapped, was relegated to the garage.
Where it sat for eight months.
The return policy on the website where we ordered it clearly said returns were only accepted for 30 days. Yet the tub was not only taking up a chunk of our credit card balance, it was hogging much-needed bicycle storage space.
Determined to sell it to a good home, I posted photos on Craigslist and eBay and waited. And waited. I listed it at half what we paid, and the only responses I got told me how they had seen a better price somewhere else, would we consider coming down? (To which I replied, “That sounds like a great deal! Take them up on it.”) But I knew it only took one person – the right person – who would treasure the tub and recognize the value of it.
Three months later, we still had no serious nibbles. That’s when I called the company we originally ordered it from and told them our situation. Their response? They sent a truck to pick it up – at their expense – and refunded the full retail amount to our credit card.
The spiritual lesson of the tub: Don’t get attached to form. The universe doesn’t care exactly what or who or where comes along to fulfill your desire. It only cares that your desire is filled. If I were determined to sell the tub on Craigslist, I would still be waiting. Turns out, the person who stood to gain the most value from the tub was the retailer.
If you have all your hopes and dreams pinned on one particular job, house, or mate, you’re liable to miss the perfect opportunity the universe is trying to send your way. When you surrender the specifics, you open yourself up to miracles—which is when things work out way better than you ever could have planned.
What attachments to form can you surrender today? Or, what has come along to delight you once you let go of trying to control exactly how everything turned out? This is a biggie, y’all. Would love to hear your experiences so we can inspire each other and help get this embedded in our bodacious brains.
