What an interesting experience this week.  I went to start my car and …nothing.  It wouldn’t start.  Oh, well, so I called roadside assistance who generously jump started my car and I made a bee line for the car dealership to get the problem diagnosed.

After a brief wait at the dealer, they determined that keeping my car was the best option and they offered me a loaner car.

“Sure, I’d like a loaner,”  I said, hoping that I could still salvage getting something done that day if I at least had wheels.

As I waited out front, out of the corner of my eye I saw a fire engine red car pulling into the lot.  It was bright, obnoxious and apparently mine, I realized as they pulled right in front of me and handed me the keys.

“Um do you have anything else a little less…ummm red”?

And they did not, so I climbed into my chariot, and away I went. On the inside the car was neutral, pretty basic, and on the outside, it was an attention getter.

Not too long after I drove away, ran a few errands, and listened to some tunes, I soon forgot about the outside billboard. But there was something I noticed.

I felt strange, out of sorts, not myself.  I felt like everyone was gawking at the rolling red freak show.  Sure it worked, it took me where I needed to go. It got the job done, but it didn’t feel right.  It felt like I was trying on someone else’s clothes, I felt like a “poser”.

I likened it to those moments when we’re doing what we need to do, but not in the “skin” we were meant for, but in a shiny new red, feels-too-obnoxious vehicle.  Maybe that’s what happens when we try and be someone we’re not, do something that is not in our strengths, or jump into a job or career for the money and not because we can offer the best of us in the experience.

Sure, driving the mini fire truck got me where I needed to go, but when I arrived, it failed to feel like the journey was worth it.

We are best served to wait if needed so we can stay in our strengths, arrive in style and feel the journey was surely worth every head turn.

So what’s red that you need to ‘trade in’ and get back in your own skin, your own strengths ?

I’m back to driving my white convertible and loving every minute of it!