Upside Down: Yes, I bought the red car – The Phoenix

You know that old expression what you focus on grows? The exact quote is this, “Watch what ye wandering eyes and skull rest on for surely they will signal ye downfall or ye redemption.”

At least that’s the way it could have sounded back in the good old days because people knew about the power of concentration long before there were big things to chew on like whether Pluto is a planet. Or not.

Back then maybe they obsessed about whether the sun would explode in a ball of red hot flame. Such a small thing.

Unlike my new car, such a big thing. Yes, I bought the big red one — my first SUV — is it a car, is it a truck? Maybe I was dazzled by its sunny demeanor, its sunset glow, its ability to be seen from 93 million miles away.

If you think of all the reasons why I shouldn’t have, let me remind you that you have better things to focus on yourself. Like why you bought the gray one (practical), or the white (fastidious) or the black (power hungry).

But, unlike me, I bet none of those choices prevent you from leaving the garage. My wheels, on the other hand, have stayed put, my focus so saturated in red that I think of the Buddha who said, “You become what you think.”

Well I have become raving mad red. I fear if I drive it, the neighbors will assume an ambulance was summoned. Or that a fire engine is in the neighborhood. Or maybe that steaming magma has spewed from the earth onto our lawns, our houses, our vehicles, covering a more sensible color like beige (earthy) or dark green (traditional).

It’s not red, it’s orange-red,” says my Honda salesperson, specifically called molten lava like the color pouring from Kilauea in Hawaii. According to the psychology of car color, red shows a magnetic personality while orange shows a complex one. Put them together and you wonder — like Pluto — what is it?

After I write the check, I see a headline, “Five reasons why you shouldn’t buy a red car.” I won’t read it because if I put any more crazy ideas in my head, I’ll go down in a ball of flame.

“What you focus on grows, what you think about expands, and what you dwell upon determines your destiny.” That from best-selling author Robin Sharma.

Am I destined to take Uber?

Oprah Winfrey puts it this way: What you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it.”


So yes, it’s good that I can buy a new car, have a little fun, return to my second childhood, let my car blind you, and let everyone know where I am when I am because there’s no cloak of invisibility now that I’ve announced as loudly as the sun that I am here.

Forget the possible affairs, the late night runs for pizza or sneaking out for a shopping fix or slipping home unnoticed or skipping away early without someone thinking “Time to get up, it’s morning.”

I already know those five reasons: Resale, Traffic Tickets (apparently not true), Accident-prone (I’m not a teenage boy), Hot Chick causing guys to veer and gawk (definitely!) or Pluto confusion (is this a car or a bloodmobile)?

“What is that large beacon shining in my direction?” you might ask as you glance in the rear view mirror. “And why is it in my orbit?”

First things first people. First I have to get Pluto out of the garage.

Thank you
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