You Can’t Always Get What You Want…

“But if you try sometime, you find you get what you need.” So goes the line from the Rolling Stones song.

Like many, I have felt overwhelmed, helpless and hopeless in the last week, struggling to understand the

disturbing and devastating events from last week, Amy Cooper’s reprehensible behavior, George Floyd’s murder, and the ensuing protests and riots. The only hope I can muster at this time is that we, me, America, might just be getting what we need: a wake-up call. Again.

Let me just say this one thing, and then I’ll move on. There is no “right” way to do revolution, or, evolution. Just like birth is messy and painful, re-birth is going to hurt. Change doesn’t happen when we’re complacent. It happens when we’re in enough pain to think, be and do something different. On that note…

The mantra for this morning’s meditation was: I am powerful. I am love. I am grateful for my life.

I had forgotten ALL of that — that I AM powerful; that there are probably multiple places where I give my power away, many times where I choose complacency over doing the hard thing.

This idea of want vs need has been a theme this weekend. Saturday I heard someone say: “If I give up what I want, I get what I need.” Something clicked for me.

I have been laboring to make my life happen the way I want it to, but maybe that’s not what I actually need.

I keep playing this guessing game with the universe. If I do X, will I get Y? I keep looking for answers outside of me. What do I have to do to get what I want? What if I asked myself a different question: Where can I be of maximum service?

Hours later I was watching the news and I didn’t like the answer that presented itself: the Oregon unemployment office. They are woefully understaffed and way behind in processing the deluge of claims that descended on them as a result of Covid-19.

Do I want to do administrative work like this? Nope.

Do I want to drive to Wilsonville? Nope.

But I bet I can help. It can be short-term, and it could be enormously helpful to many people. I went ahead and applied, knowing that it’s not exactly my skillset. (They are looking for someone who can multi-task.)

Right before I went to bed, I checked my inbox and there was an email from a former client who is interested in re-engaging in coaching.

Sometimes if you try, you find you get what you need.