Wanting what you get is Happiness

I spoke with a friend this morning who sounded unhappy. He complained about the lack of opportunity to live a meaningful Life. “The world is not spinning fast enough for me”, he said, adding that he wished Life would be ‘kinder’ to him and recognize him for his talent and reward him justly.

My friend’s lament is representative of what many of us feel. We believe that because we are ethical, sincere, talented and hard-working, Life should have dealt with us better. That we deserved much more from Life than we actually have got. Many, in the wake of Life’s “unfairness”, even get bitter about Life. We become cynical and suspicious about everyone and everything. But there’s another way of looking at Life. While, obviously, our bitterness stems from ‘not getting what we want’, we will do well to look closely at what we have got – even if that’s not what we wanted.

First, none of us ever wanted to be born. Yet, the very fact that you – and I – are born human, and are biologically alive, is a huge opportunity. You can use this opportunity to live – to live fully, happily and in bliss. Or you can be living – clinically that is – and yet be dead spiritually, merely existing on the planet! Life is nothing but an experience. You can choose to either live through that experience, and get better – and better – at living, or become bitter from it. The reason why many people suffer through Life, and are miserable, is because they don’t accept, they don’t want, what they get. They are not celebrating the unlimited opportunity that Life offers. Their expectations are preventing them from seeing the abundance in their lives.

So, this Monday morning, as you settle down to another unpredictable or monotonous or challenging (depending on how your Life’s panning out just now) week at work, remember, you may not always get what you want. But to be happy you may well have to want what you get!