The Canary Yellow Dishwasher

When dishwashers started to be common kitchen appliances I wanted one but couldn’t afford it. We’d just moved into a house that had a canary yellow Fridgidaire refrigerator, so, when I saw a glossy full page ad of a portable dishwasher the same make and color, I wanted it. When I consulted my husband, Wally, he said, “We can’t afford it right now, Honey.” But that’s when I wanted it, right now! 

However, I didn’t argue, beg or despair.  I remembered what I’d heard from someone quite wise: “When you are tempted to want some good thing, never say, ‘I want it.’ When you say,‘I want it,’ you are at the same time saying, ‘I don’t have it,’ and as long as you say you don’t have it, you won’t have it.” 

Now I took this as an opportunity to put his theory to the test. I took that beautiful glossy ad and tacked it to our kitchen bulletin board. Then I said, “I have my dishwasher!” I truly believed that because I had the idea of it.

From then on I refused to look longingly at the picture, but rather used it as a reminder that I already had the true substance of the thing because I had the idea of it. I really enjoyed knowing that idea and adopting it into our home even though it was not yet there in its tangible, more useful manifestation. I was willing to let that part of the idea come when it may, but I knew it would. And it did.

A friend came to our area on business and we invited him to dinner one night. We talked about his family and the line of work he was in, promoting a series of housing developments. After the meal was finished I said, “Now is the time I’d love to see my dishwasher come into my kitchen and wash these dishes.” I added, "I have one in mind and a picture of it hangs in my kitchen. It’s a canary yellow Frigidaire with a butcher block top and wheels to make it portable so we can take it with us on our next move.”

Our friend said, “If the cost is holding you back, I can get that model for you wholesale through our business. It would cost you less than half the retail price.” Wally glanced up at me from the other side of the table with a smile and look that said I’d be getting my dishwasher. 

My wise friend had also said, “Having  the idea of a thing is all there really is to it." Remembering this, I said to myself, Where would the metal, the paint, the mechanism of a dishwasher be without ideas? There could never be a thing without the idea of it, as you can plainly see from its inception to its completion. So, if you have the idea, you have all there is to it and, so long as you don’t block its way into your experience with doubts and fears, that idea will become manifest in a practical way.”  

What I also learned from the dishwasher experiment was that I could use this principle in every way so long as I did not let the material substance of the thing overshadow the idea. Greed, foolishness, stupidity, etc. are not elements of good ideas. 

In today’s world news media we hear and see how much the world needs a better sense of economy. Ideas, good ideas, can lead us to it. And the wonderful thing about that is, ideas are free!