selling my car, or, how i transcended dependence

I have decided (finally) to sell my car. It’s been a struggle to get to this point, which really surprised me.  It also opened my eyes to how dependent we can become on our ‘conveniences’, without even realizing it.

The first time I thought about selling my car was about a year ago.  I was examining my budget, and it occurred to me that I could get rid of a chunk of debt if I got rid of my car (plus the added benefit of not having to pay for insurance, gas, etc).  My car is worth about 5K, which is no small amount.

I couldn’t do it.  I live in DC, but go to school in Baltimore. Normally, I take the train to class, but what if the train is running late?  Then I’d be stuck without my car and couldn’t make it to class.

And what about weekends? Sure, I can get by on public transportation, but when I want to go out on the weekend, I don’t want to deal with the hassle of waiting for the metro. So, I decided to keep my car.

But a funny thing happened.  The arguments against the sale made me subconsciously attempt to live without my car, to see what the impact would be.  I didn’t really realize I was doing this, it was just little things here and there.  I started taking the metro to the climbing gym.  I started checking bus times from work to yoga.  I began walking everywhere.  I started scheduling events in the same geographical area at the same time.  I started building in extra time. And most importantly, I started to relax. 

You know, we live in this society where everything must be done nownownow.  We rush around to take care of things, and at the end of the day, all we have is lung cancer and obesity to show for it.

Well, not me. I am not willing to be a slave to the system anymore.  There is nothing in my life so urgent that I must drive myself crazy trying to achieve it immediately.  So what if I’m a few minutes late to something?  What’s the worst that will happen? So what if something doesn’t get done?  I’m not a surgeon, lives don’t hang in the balance.  Except mine, maybe.  And I’m not willing to risk it anymore.

So, I’m selling my car.  I’m going to have to learn better time management.  I’m going to have to simplify.  I’m going to have to say no occasionally.   I’m going to have to be independent. 

Doesn’t sound so bad to me.