I bought a new computer recently through Apple that had a few hiccups along the way to purchasing it. Each of those hiccups was out of my control and was due to some glitches on Apple’s ordering system’s end. And because of those glitches, a kind member of the Apple customer service team took $150 off the total purchase price without me even asking for it, of which I was more than grateful. But something happened after all this took place that I felt tested an old negative pattern of mine, and it deals with greed.
Within no more than an hour or so after receiving that $150 credit, I had a phone call from a friend of mine who ironically works for Apple. When I told him the good news of me finally buying a new computer from his employer, he told me I needed to immediately cancel the order, which I thought was a very odd response. When I asked him why he would say such a thing, he said he could get me a 15% discount off my total purchase price. After doing the math for me as well, he said it would save me several hundred dollars more in doing so.
For several minutes I debated on whether to take my friend up on his offer or not, but deep down I kept hearing this voice within me saying “No!” the entire time. Interestingly enough, my old self wouldn’t have had any hesitation whatsoever on being able to save some more money on this purchase, but the person I’ve become today definitely is seeing things differently, especially when it comes to money.
I allowed money to control me for far too many years and all too often I’d do behaviors that often screwed other people just to save a buck. In this case with the computer purchase, I asked myself at the precise moment my friend said he could save me more money on it, whether the Apple support person’s time was worth anything. I then thought about how I spent more than an hour on the phone with them working through those glitches and getting the computer reordered given the first one had gotten cancelled somehow. Even further, I thought about how they promised to monitor the order until it got shipped out successfully and that they would call me if any issues were to arise. And finally, I thought about the $150 credit she gave me for all the inconveniences I had gone through and asked myself, why isn’t that enough of a discount?
Look, I truly believe in karma and although saving more money usually seems like a good thing to do, I’ve learned along the way through plenty of past unfortunate experiences that when I cut one corner it usually catches up with me somewhere else pretty quickly. And while my ego did its best to convince me that this woman wouldn’t mind if I cancelled the order and had my friend make the purchase instead, I went with my gut and decided having $300 more in my pocket would only be about greed.
You see that’s the problem with money. The ego tends to think it never has enough of it and because of that, it often ends up controlling so many, causing people to make decisions without regard for anyone or anything else. I honestly don’t ever want money to do this to me anymore in life like it once used to with such regularity.
So in the end, I turned my friend’s 15% discount down and I have to say I felt a lot better because of it. I have no guilt and no buyer’s regret, and somehow I think my Higher Power was telling me I made the right decision when that friendly Apple customer service agent called me again later that day and told me my order was fully processed and my computer would soon be on its way…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson