The Wisdom of Mick and Keith

Disclaimer: I realize that I'm taking a major risk here in declaring someone who fell out of a palm tree as wise. But it's my blog, I'll declare if I want to.

Earlier this evening, I went to the gym for my first post-half-marathon workout. Yes, I needed a week + 1 day to "recover". When I got back into my car to go home, I cranked it up and heard the following from the radio...

"You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometime, you just might find, you just might find...you get what you need." (insert choir of "ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, ahh's" here)

And then I started thinking. It happens sometimes...I can't help it. Thanks to my musically hip parents, I've grown up listening to this song my entire life, but the truth in these lines really struck a chord with me today.

I won't speak for the rest of the 7 billion people on the planet, but I am a person who wants. For example, after getting home from the gym I wanted a venti Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks in a bad way. (I would go so far as to say that it bordered on a need) So I loaded up the Lab and headed to Starbucks to treat myself. I placed my order and drove to the window only to hear the words "I'm sorry, but we're out of apple juice." I wanted to cry. An hour later, I still wanted this drink (hello, it's only around for a limited time each year and December 25th gets closer every day) so I went to the other Starbucks near my home. Only to hear the same thing there. Sigh. Perhaps I needed that $3.37 more than I wanted a warm cup of sugary goodness. But caramel apple cider isn't the only thing I want out of life. I want to be finished with my paper that is due on Monday but I've yet to start writing. I want to travel. I want to be the girl that someone falls absolutely head over heels for. I want a job with more money and less hours. I want to buy everyone the best gifts this Christmas. Want. Want. Want. The list could go on and on if I wanted to really work on developing carpel tunnel.

Remember how I mentioned in my last post that I don't always hear the words of songs correctly? Well, tonight when I googled the lyrics of this song, I discovered that I was totally off yet again. I thought the line: "I went down to the Chelsea drugstore, to get your prescription filled" was "I went down to the jealousy drugstore, to get your prescription filled." Ok, to my credit it kind of fits because people get jealous when others have the very things that they want.

The point that I'm trying to make is that all too often I get so caught up in all that I want for my life. When I do this, I don't take the time to consider that not only have all of my needs been met, but they have been exceedingly met. (I'm pretty certain that this isn't grammatically correct, but hopefully Allison & Amber, my English major friends, won't read too closely.) I serve a God who loves me and provides me with all that I will ever need. And what I needed today was to be reminded of this. So I was. And I am thankful.