Wanting What You Get

A small house would have been what I wanted had I known then what I know now        Image:Pixabay

Originally I gave this post the title, 'Getting What You Want or Wanting What You Get,' and you will see why as you read on. That title was a bit long so I made it simpler and shorter.

When I came across the following quote I had to read it several times to get my head around it. ‘Some luck lies not in getting what you thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you’ve got it you may be smart enough to see it is what you would have wanted, had you known,’ (Garrison Keillor, American author, storyteller and radio personality.) 

Sometimes we don’t get what we wanted but we get something else. Later we may realise what life handed us actually suits us better and we are so glad we didn’t get what we thought we wanted.

Several years ago I was living in a regional city where I had been for about eighteen years. I was buying a house which suited my needs. At the time I was in a job I found satisfying. The lifestyle was relaxed, I felt part of the community and had good friends. Perhaps I was in a rut but I was happy there and had no desire to move. 

Due to circumstances beyond my control it started to look like I would need to move back to ‘the big smoke’. Moving was not what I wanted to do. 

At first I fought the idea. Months passed and the move became inevitable. I accepted that it was going to happen and started looking for positive aspects of making the move.

When the time came to move, things just fell into place. It was as if it was meant to be. Now I am so pleased I did move. Yes, I often think about the friends I left behind but things have actually worked out much better than I could ever have dreamed.

 

The quote is relevant to me in regard to another aspect of moving house. My new house is smaller than my previous one. Had I not been on a tight budget I would have chosen a bigger house but now that I have adapted to a smaller living area I am finding advantages.

My power bill is lower because there is a smaller area to heat and cool. There aren't as many lights to accidentally get left on.

 

Living in a smaller house has forced me to think about what is important to me at this stage in my life. I have had to make decisions about what to keep and what to part with. In the future I won’t be accumulating so much clutter, a good feeling.

The garden is easier to keep under control. My water bill is lower.

As in the quote, I see moving to my current home is what I would have wanted, had I known.