You can't ever get what you want

I don't know why but roses always hold such a strange beauty and perfection. From their bud to their bloom to their withering away, I've never seen an ugly rose.

Maybe that's what all of us are - roses. Just that we can't see it, because we are the ones going through the stages of growth and death, and we never stop to appreciate the beauty of it in other people. That's the only way to see the beauty - to look at it in other people. You can't turn your eyes on yourself, although you may be able to see reflections of yourself - in them, in the water that nourishes you, in life.

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We can never get what we want. Not really, anyway. This seems like a pessimistic, cynical statement, but it's not, really. It's just an observation, and one which has deeper implications.

But what do I mean by that statement? Well, think about it. The last time you wanted something almost unattainable really really badly, and you focused all your attentions on getting that one thing, did you get it in the end? For instance, as a dancer, I want to have the perfect fifth position - 180 degree turnout through both feet. But if I try and force it, I will end up compromising my technique and dancing. So I can't force it. Not with any real success. If instead I change my "want" to improving my technique as a whole, I'd focus on rotation from the inner thighs, and my posture - my abdominal muscles pulled up, tail bone tucked under. In this case, I will be working much closer towards the perfect fifth position than I would if I "wanted" it and tried to force it.

That was perhaps a poor example to the vast majority of people who don't take ballet. Let us take instead an example that I'm sure everyone is familiar with. At some point or another, we've all wanted acclaim, respect, or admiration. Yet if we go all out to try and impress, do we truly succeed in obtaining it? People will see your attempts for what they are, mere attempts, and dismiss them. If you change your "want" to wanting to tap your potential, and focus on developing your talents, people will admire the talents that you have. People will also naturally admire you for your humility, because you don't seek fame, but simply to do your best with what God has given you. But once you have changed your want from one to the other, you no longer want that. On this note, I'd like to clarify that this is what I meant when I responded to tags, and said that we should not worry about what others think, and focus instead on the truly important things of our life.

So we can never attain what we want. We can only attain what we used to want if we replace the old want with another want. But do we really need our wants to be satisfied to be happy?