That’s kind of a weird motivational quote isn’t it. Hold on to your pants its going to get a WHOLE lot weirder! That’s a picture of my very favorite tree or shrub flower. It’s called an ornamental dogwood and I can’t have one. But that’s not really where we’re going here. They are stunning, easy to grow and coming down in price fast. I can’t have one because I just don’t have a spot for a tree that high. I really really love them and I do want one but not having one isn’t really a big deal.
We all spend a whole lot of energy on wanting, usually things that cost money. It’s not really a surprise though studies show we are usually exposed to about 5000 ads a day and we’re also exposed to all the things others have too. It’s no wonder we end up saying “oh I want that” pretty much every day. We see someone’s facebook photos, a neighbor gets a new car or renovates their home and then we find ourselves wanting that too. But wanting something, especially something someone else has all the time doesn’t feel great.
Given that advertising does actually work and now we’re all basically advertising to each other too it’s no wonder we find ourselves wanting more. At this point I feel like it’s just normal and that we all need to have a personal strategy to deal with it. I might want their house, her purse and his truck but if you stop and think about of it none of that really has to effect me. I think we’d all do well to realize that pretty regularly we’re going to want something we just can’t have for really great reasons. It might be me and my tree or you and an Italian vacation. So how do we do that and be okay with it?
Well one thing is to realize that wants and needs are totally different things. If your needs are being met lots of people want just that. Another strategy is to ask yourself why you even want that in the first place and is it worth the work to get it? One thing that I find really helpful is to just be okay wanting something. You can really, really want something, not have it and live through it virtually 100% of the time. Lastly realize every one wants something no matter who you are. You might be looking at the guy in the Audi but there’s a good chance he really wants a Ferrari!
This weekend think about why it is you want the things you want in the first place and how crappy that feels. Take some time to figure out how much of your life is devoted to wanting something and what not feeling that as often would mean to you. Because most of the things we want to better our lives aren’t things at all!
Sweat Sweetly 
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