My parking spot was stolen. Admittedly, that is not the most accurate sentence. I don’t actually own a parking spot, so strictly speaking nothing was stolen. But another driver did prevent me from parking in the spot I was attempting to back into. It was at that point, when I decided to give it up and drive away, that I allowed myself to cry hysterically for about a minute and a half.

Was this an overreaction? It was clearly a very strong response. But the parking spot was just a small nudge over the cliff I had been teetering on since I left work. I had received some information about pay and hours for the coming year that was not in alignment with my thoughts about how it should be. Usually that is where frustration starts. There is a disconnect between reality, and the mind’s ideas about reality.

Intellectually I am aware that the events that took place today were all working for my good. My brain still trusts the universe. But that wasn’t how I was feeling. I felt frustrated, and unnerved. So when “my” parking spot was “stolen” I decided it was time to let out the negative energy that had awoken within me. If I hadn’t allowed that energy to express itself, it would have lived on within my body, leaving me more susceptible to illness and further negative energy.

I then proceeded to find a parking spot, and walk home in the gloriously clear blue sky. I find that after a less-than-desirable experience, it is necessary to rev myself up again. Instead of letting the space created from purging my negative energy fill up with a reaction to another event, I feel it is more helpful to choose what I let in.

For a few minutes I danced and sang about how grateful and abundant my life was. Then I decided to watch an inspiring sermon on YouTube, but instead found myself watching clips from Willy Wonka. Wouldn’t you know it, it was just what I needed! The first video featured the song, “Golden Ticket,” which displayed exactly the level of energy I was attempting to reach. What was more, I heard the lyrics spoken straight from the universe itself:

I never had a chance to shine
Never a happy song to sing
But suddenly half the world is mine
What an amazing thing
‘Cause I’ve got a golden ticket (Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley)

When I let go of thought, observe the world around me, and sense my own beingness in connection with all that is, that is what it feels like! I’ve got a golden ticket and the world is mine, or rather, I am the world. Consciousness is the real golden ticket. God can speak to you with exactly the right words, through any vessel in the universe. All that is required, in the words of Willy Wonka, is to “simply look around and view it.”