Today, I want to tell you a story about a Ferrari, a landscaper and a dent. I normally wouldn’t call out the make of the car involved in this story, but the fact that the car is a Ferrari is of significance and represents all the hard work I’ve put in to own it.

This story was set into motion while getting my hair cut, like I do every two weeks. I park in the same small parking lot that has an attendant, but this time, the attendant had some bad news when I came back. Someone had backed into my car resulting in a dent and scratch.

Of course my first reaction to this was anger, but I quickly caught it and reframed. Amazingly, the attendant was super proactive and got the information of the man who’d backed into my car. He was a landscaper with an old broken-down truck. As soon as I got in my car, however, my struggle began. Who pays for this $2-3,000 repair? It wasn’t my fault, but this hard-working landscaper was likely not going to be in a position to pay it.

I called this man and he immediately took responsibility and wanted to pay for the damage. While speaking through broken English, he offered to pay cash. When I told him the amount though, he sighed. That was a lot of money to him, so he would instead need to make an insurance claim to pay for it.

So here’s the dilemma. It was his fault, but did I really want to put this burden to pay when it would put such a strain on him? And furthermore, if he did indeed file a claim, it would cost him at least $500-$1,000 for his deductible (and a premium increase) and cost me a ton more of my time and energy until the insurance company figured it out. So I made the decision to pay the repair cost because I can, and because I can do it so much easier than he can.

“Too many people are chasing pennies instead of using that time to create dollars.”

I don’t want to be one of those people. I don’t want to feel bad energy or waste any of my time while I can be doing other more, high-energy, money-making things.

“Do what’s right, not righteous.”

Maybe it’s not always easy, but it’s karmically better for you.

“I am in this position because I’ve always made decisions like this – even when I couldn’t do so as easily.”

And when you consistently create a pattern of decisions like this, you will experience wealth – in all forms – far beyond your wildest dreams. When have you given up the opportunity to be righteous and done what’s right instead?