In continuing the conversation about Thomas J. Leonard’s 28 Attraction Principles, the one that popped out at me this evening is  #9 is “Get a Fulfilling Life, Not Just an Impressive Lifestyle:  A great life is attractive; a lifestyle is usually seductive.  We all sure could have used this a few years ago don’t you think?  Now, it’s all many of us can do to keep a roof over our heard, food in our belly and clothes on our back.  Even so, believe it or not, there are still many of us running around out here trying to look really good for—I really don’t know whose benefit???

So what does getting a fulfilling life mean? I think it means what you probably think it means which is to really get in there and have a fulfilling marriage, parentage, friendship, volunteer life and really exercise those wings that are hidden in your back and let yourself out to fly with all those talents and gifts that only you have. Or at least only you have the expression of that however it is that you express your talents.

What does an impressive lifestyle mean? Well I’m really jaded when it comes to the whole impressive lifestyle thing because I’m always looking for the little man behind the curtain (reference to the Wizard of Oz).  I can’t believe I’ve actually changed, grown, become the kind of person that is more ecstatic that my car is ten years old, has over 145K miles on it and still has great pick up and go rather than having a new shiny one sitting in my drive way. Well, okay, if you wanted to give me a new car–I certainly wouldn’t not let you do so…but it’s more important to me today to spend and save my money elsewhere rather than to take my budget right to the edge of reason just so that I can drive a spectacular car.

And still I hear about people, like the neighbors of some of our good friends, who have a gorgeous, expansive house with a huge Travel Bus just sitting in its special garage because at one time, not so long ago, they had wanted to travel with it back and forth to their ranch a few hours a way and back again.  It turned out that it was less arduous for them to fly in a jet rather than trek in their bus so now it sits and collects dust.  I don’t know that their intention was to get the bus to show that they have an impressive lifestyle, but so far from what I’ve heard and seen about their life, I’m not impressed.   I hope if I ever have an overflow of money from my reserves that I use that money similarly to how some good friends of ours use theirs.  They do live in a nice home and travel to lovely places but they are also very active in the community in many ways and help people out all of the time in mostly anonymous ways.  Their priorities are in the right place; they come from their hearts.  Now their lives, I’m attracted to because I see all the good that they are able to do from others out of the overflow of reserves that they have in their lives.

One last thought, in case you didn’t know this about me already:  I love a beautiful car.  I love a purring motor, elegant handling, beautiful craftsmanship, gorgeous color and a fantastic sound system.  But do you know after all these many years and many beautiful cars that I’ve seen the one car that sticks out in my mind above so many is my best friend from college’s Datsun B-210.  She is a little girl, 5′ 2” maybe 100 pounds and that car was just the perfect car for her, small and compact and powerful. It was also painted a light blue with white and had one red door. I think one of her brothers had repaired it when they bought it because it had been in some kind of a fender bender. Anyway, we used to have an absolute blast in that car getting all dolled up and driving from our university town to the big city about an hour or so away. We’d pull up to the best most incredible restaurant or bar in that little car reeking of cigarettes, because my friend was a big smoker, but we were both dressed to the nines and dared to have it valet parked.  I never thought twice about being embarrassed when guys would walk us back out to our car and see our golden chariot.   Actually, I think most guys became even more intrigued that we were driving that car with a really incredible engine.

Point of the story is that we were more involved in having a great life rather than a great lifestyle and I have many, many fantastic memories because of it and none that will be captured digitally I can assure you!

May the B-210 spirit of life grab you and help you to have an impressive life!