Curse: “may you get what you want”
Blessing: “may you get what you want and want what you get”
Chinese Proverb
Have you ever noticed that what could have seemed like ‘failures’ can sometimes be the foundations for our greatest successes? And how some things that we thought we really wanted are not actually fulfilling (including that third helping of pudding!)?
Sometimes it's not so much about what we get but how we respond to what we get (and what we make of it).
Sometimes we have an idea about what’s best for us and we’re wrong.
Sometimes the real power is in noticing and appreciating what we’ve got.
Counterintuitive? Maybe.
A while ago I was on an advanced mindfulness teacher training course. Mindfulness is about noticing. During the session we returned again and again to these two questions:
“How do you feel when you get what you want?”
and
“How do you feel when you don’t get what you want?”
Asking these questions repeatedly uncovers multi-layered responses. One thing I noticed is that when I get what I think I want, I often dismiss it or am not really satisfied. And when I don’t get what I want, the outcome is often better than I could ever have imagined. Apparently, I’m not alone in this.
Why don’t you give it a go and see what it’s like for you?
With love,
Mia
