Put Your Unicorn in Your Shopping Cart...And Check OUT!
In January of 2020, I’d landed my first international speaking engagement in London. It was an incredible opportunity to speak in front of an audience of people from all over the world. That engagement was in February.
There was just one big problem: I didn’t have the money in hand to buy my flight, book a hotel, or any of the other challenges I would need to overcome to get to that speaking engagement.
Two Weeks Before I Was Due to Leave...
A miracle came through. My husband was paid enough money for us to not only cover our rent while I would be gone, but to pay for the flight, the hotel, and the other necessities of travel.
I remember my hands shaking as I sat at my computer late that night typing in the numbers of my debit card while booking a $1500 flight that would get me there and back home. It was the most money I’d ever spent on travel in my life.
With my commitment to the trip made, it was time to sacrifice another $350 on hotel stays. That left me with just a few hundred for food and everything else I would need. It was going to be tight, but I could do it.
While We Were Shopping for Necessities...
It was nearing Valentine’s Day and there was a bin of giant stuffed animals. In the middle of that bin was one giant stuffed pink unicorn.
I’ve loved unicorns since I was a little girl, but money was always too tight growing up for us to waste it on frivolities like a stuffed unicorn.
My husband picked up the unicorn and nudged me, saying, “Put it in the shopping cart.”
Our first granddaughter was due in eight weeks. It would be a perfect baby gift. It was soft and so cute!
Common sense took charge. I looked at him and said, “We can’t afford that. We’ve spent so much money already, and I still need money for the trip.”
He looked at me and didn’t budge. “Put it in the shopping cart.”
I looked at the price tag, and to my surprise, it was only $15!
I put it in the shopping cart reasoning that I could always take it out later if I thought we might go over the amount allotted for this shopping trip.
As We Got Up to the Checkout Counter...
Our shopping cart was filled with things I needed for the trip, and those things were adding up to a lot of money.
It seemed to me a giant pink unicorn was something we just couldn’t afford.
I started to take it out of the cart, but my husband stopped me. “Do you want it?” he asked.
I didn’t answer his question. I simply said, “We can’t afford it.”
He looked me in the eyes and said, “We couldn’t afford this trip, either. Just check out already!”
I knew what he was telling me: Stop letting money be the excuse you use not to live your dreams!
I was almost as nervous checking out with my brand new, giant stuffed unicorn as I was when I was checking out those flight tickets . . . but it felt good.
My Unicorn Year...
We named that giant pink stuffed unicorn Sparkles. I hadn’t known what I was going to say to the audience during my speech until after I got her home.
She was a symbol of me finally saying yes to my dreams instead of telling myself all the reasons I couldn’t afford them.
2020 was an abysmal financial disaster for many...but it was a magic unicorn year for me.
Not only did I step out on that stage and speak to an international audience, but I got to welcome my baby granddaughter into the world just a few weeks later.
She was six weeks early but spent only four hours in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit).
I was able to earn enough with my copywriting that summer to buy a car after years of walking everywhere, and taking public transportation when the distance was too far.
I was able to use that car to visit my son and my granddaughter, and to move to a better place.
It was truly a year of many magical moments that all began with saying yes to the dreams I’d spent so many decades telling myself I couldn’t afford.
Say “Yes” to Your Dreams and Check OUT!
Your dreams are waiting for you to say yes to them – to give yourself permission to have them.
Don’t just put your dreams in the shopping cart. Be sure to check out.
No matter what it is you want, need, or dream of having, doing, or being, there is a way for them to come true.
If you need help putting together a plan, book a free Breaking Open Abundance Discovery call and let’s work together to say yes to your dreams.
Brandy M. Miller is not only one of Path To Publishing’s top Verified Literary Companions and Consultants, but she is an international speaker and award-winning author and the founder of Breaking Open Abundance(TM). The program is designed to help participants tackle the mindset challenges standing between them and living a life of limitless abundance. It is based on her own journey through poverty’s desert wilderness to a place where she recognized the beauty of her journey and the value of the lessons she’d learned along the way. Now she passes on that wisdom and the secrets she uncovered to living a life of limitless abundance.