Sunday, September 4, 2011

Be Careful What You Wish For


There is an old Russian proverb that goes: be careful what you wish for because you might get it. Initially, the proverb sound paradoxical. Wouldn’t it be great to have your fondest wish come true? It all depends on the wish and the rationale behind it at the time. We want different things at different times in our lives.

A close friend measures his business success by having a large home in an exclusive neighborhood. The problem with the showcase houses is everything is big about them from the gas bills to property taxes. They not only consume money, but time too with constant maintenance and repair. Then add to that neighborhood association that charges you a fee for living in the area, then saddles you with rules that make living there an ordeal. Finally, disgusted with the fact that the house consumed his entire income, stealing away any hopes of vacation or hobbies, he finally gave it up.

Once he gave up the house, he felt a huge sense of relief. Instead of measuring his worth by the house, he found other ways to find fulfillment because the house definitely wasn’t doing it. He chose to live frugally instead of going back to his initial wish for a McMansion.

My personal wish that I got and now I don’t want is the in ground pool. After a bitter divorce and a move to another state, I thought I deserved something nice and the pool was it. The first year was probably our best year together, the pool and I. It was probably because my brother-in-law came over and cleaned it a great deal. The second year the joy was a little less as I battled ducks for ownership of the pool and cleaned it a lot more. People who do not own pools are unaware how much cleaning and expensive chemicals it takes to maintain a pool. They are more trouble than the pets when you go on vacation because the pets you can board. The pool just turns green while you’re gone. By year four, all I could think of was how much valuable writing time I spent cleaning the pool.

By this time, I am thinking of moving to a home without a pool. Maybe the pool was good that first year, but each year it became progressively worse with a weakening pump, and an erratic filtering system. I joked my tan was not from paddling around in the pool, but by standing topside and cleaning it. Imagine working ten hours, then coming home to clean the pool, it doesn’t sound like such a great wish now? Be careful what you wish for because you might get it.

Is there something you wished for and did get, but now regret?

9 comments:

Jan Romes said...

Morgan, this was an interesting post! Quite thought-provoking! Thanks for sharing! :-) Have a nice Labor's Day!

Jan Romes

Pamala Owldreamer said...

What an odd coincidence.I wrote about his topic even used the same title a few weeks ago on my blog,Dream the Dream.I truly believe this but,being human I find myself wishing for things. Especially things I truly need and want.
Being human with Irish,English and Choctaw blood running through my veins.I am very precise and careful about wishing and praying for outcomes.I trust Great Spirit/God and the Goddess to send me what I need or show me the way to obtain what I need.

Ana Morgan said...

Fantastic post, Morgan. This has happened over and over to me. (I'm a slow learner.) It's easier to see in children, who like to put quarters in machines for cheap trinkets. I practice an affirmation which includes the phrase, "all that is mine by Divine right." That way I get what is truly mine, and not what will create a lot of hardship or regret.

Jill James said...

I wished to get published, and though it is a lot more work than anyone told me, I wouldn't trade that wish away for anything.

I wished for my son to truly see the woman he married for the witch she is, but I didn't wish for the pain the divorce is costing him now.

morgan said...

Hi Pamala,
You've given me a great deal to think about before I make my next wish.
Thanks for commenting.

morgan said...

Hi Ana Morgan,

I will try to use your affirmation to tame my impulsive wishes. Thanks.

morgan said...

Hi Jill James,
I too wish for publication and am up to the challenge ( or so I think.)

As for your son, I hear you. My son is in about the same place since he's been separated for eight months from his witch of a wife. It is DIFFICULT not telling him what I want for him. LOL

Denise Pattison said...

I love your post.

Sure there are things I wish for, pain free being at the top of the list and if that happened maybe I could go back to work.

That is the one that many people wish for, to have enough money so they wouldn't ever have to work again. Well, I'm here to tell you that isn't everything it's cracked up to be.

I miss my work. It took me years to get over the feeling that I was a laggard for not working. Even though my injuries are so severe that working is out of the question, according to every doctor I've seen since 1994, it doesn't stop me from wishing it was different.

Josie said...

Morgan,
So true those words--"Be careful what you wish, for you may get it." When I was young, I never understood the meaning of this. Now I do. :)
Oh--and we do own a small inground pool that's LOTS of work.