You never know when your words will come back to you. I talk a lot. Like, A LOT. I also type these emails pretty much every week. Sometimes they are about real estate but mostly, they are about life and observations and lessons learned. And, mostly, they are good and are nuggets worth sharing. I get some feedback from people thanking me for my words and thanking me for pointing out stuff or offering some little bit of advice or food for thought. Some of these emails are more impactful than others. I also share stuff like this on my social media. Point being, I say, in some form or fashion, a LOT of words and put myself in a position to be challenged and criticized a lot. Even to be called out as a hypocrite (Lord knows I don’t always follow my own advice!). But sometimes, I say things to the right person at the right moment and it changes them or at least sticks with them.
Several years ago, in one of these kind of emails or perhaps in a social media post (honestly I don’t remember for sure) I talked about parking out in the fringe of the parking lot (I will restate all the reasons shortly). My friend, Bobby, told me then that he enjoyed the read and was going to make it a point to do exactly what I said. Well, I saw Bobby again on Saturday as we switched places at Smyrna Kroger for Salvation Army Bell Ringing. As I walked up and changed post with him, he said, ok, I am off to my Jonathan Harmon parking spot. I looked at him a little puzzled and he reminded me of the words I typed several years ago. I was so flattered and humbled at the same time. Bobby is a much better person (overall) than I am. But here he is, ingraining a life lesson from me! It really drove home the point that your words matter. No matter how important you think they are or feel like they are ignored or not taken seriously, your words matter. At the very least, they matter to you in your own internal dialogue and psyche. I am reading the Four Agreements now and I will write on each of the agreements at some point but the first one is to be impeccable with your word. I cannot stress how important that is (more on this in a later email).
Here’s the jist of parking in the fringe. Basically, there are a ton of benefits to parking in the last few parking spaces. With very few drawbacks. Let’s go through them:
Benefits:
1) Exercise
2) Less competition for the spaces, faster to park
3) Less frustration fighting for the closer spaces–you will be in a better mood and be nicer to the retail workers that already deal with all the knuckleheads
4) less likely to get door dings
5) save the spaces for people really in a hurry or with small kids or whatever
6) You might give someone great parking karma and brighten their day
7) can actually be faster, if you are not just sitting there waiting on a spot
8) easier to find your car
Drawbacks:
1) longer exposure to the elements–it will be warm in the store, you won’t freeze
2) Can be kinda scarier if the parking lot is dark (don’t be dumb, do it when you feel safe)
3) Longer distance to haul out whatever you are buying and maybe a longer distance to the cart return (don’t be the guy that parks in the far reaches but leaves their cart, that’s just wrong)
So there you have it. My case for parking out in the back 40. I can’t promise I will always do it but I will certainly consider it. I suggest you do too.
