Don't Let Your Want be a Wish!

I had a conversation last week with an old friend, and we were discussing the word “want” (obviously we either lead very boring lives to argue the finer points of a simple word - or we are such deep individuals that we see discussion where others find none!).  I voiced the opinion that I think it is an action word, where she felt it represents a feeling or desire. For instance, "I want to make lots of money", "I want to write a book",  "I want to win the lottery." So while I agree that the word can invoke desire or a feeling - I don't believe it ends there. 

 

Here is why I think it is an action word; If you REALLY want 'it' you will act on that want. If you don't take action, it is not truly a want, but rather more of a wish. Because if you want money, you become really successful at what you do or you may take on extra work to make lots of money. People that really want to write a book – do it – they take action. People play the lottery because they want to win it. You can’t win if you don’t play.  That last statement (I have no idea who coined it - but kudos to whomever is responsible!) is really a moniker for whatever we do, whether in our careers or our personal lives.

You can’t win if you don’t play!

If you don’t take action on whatever it is you want – you don’t deserve it. If you tried and failed (and I speak from experience here) – dust off those knees (I have actually tried so hard some of my pants have worn out knees!)  and try again! If you truly want something (I mean REALLY WANT IT!)– set the goal and take the first step and get out of your comfort zone.  Make want your action word!

 

I can't believe it but...I am taking action on some of my own wants.  Because I have wants - not wishes! 

Happy playing everyone! J

 

Kathy Pettit

 

 

Chasing Home - Or Finding It

Hands Painted Like the World

This week I was fortunate enough to have my application accepted to attend a curated audience for the TedxWaterloo event, held at Centre in the Square.  It was an exciting moment - and so inspiring!  The theme was Chasing Home.  It begged the questions, is home where you live now, where you're from, the building you live in - or is it the people that you are surrounded by that make home, home?  From microbial biologists, particle physicists, slam poets, paediatric oncologists, singers, the creator and deliverer of the Mars Rovers to a female handy woman - it was an awe-inspiring event!

For me, the past is not home.  It was a place that led me to where I am today, but it's not home.  My home is in the here and now.  In the walls that make up my house.  In the laughter of my kids, in the smell of coffee made by hubby, in the wagging tails of my two dogs.  It surrounds me in the friends that make me smile, in the bed where I lay, in the garden where I grow.  It fills me with love, hope, and laughter.  It grounds me when I am too excited, too sad, or too stressed.  My home is where I can kick off my high heels, slip my feet into a pair of floppy, pink slippers, and be myself.

Others may argue that home IS where they come from - especially if their parents still reside in the house where they grew up.  That symbol of home may strike the flame that warms the heart when thinking of home.  I have come to learn that home is as personal a place as the shelves of our hearts where we store the memories that made us who we are.  The microbial biologist argued that the community of bacteria and creatures that live in our gut - have a right to be there.  They WANT to be there.  It is there home.  We live in a symbiotic relationship with them - even though we can't see it.  The work they do for us is often ignored - but they are living creatures - without whom our bodies would not be in good working order.  So maybe home is where everyone or everything is kept in balance.  Instead of a location, it is an existence.  An existence of having symbiotic relationships with those that think of you, when they think of home.

Try acting as if your entire community were your home.  Treating everyone within it with respect and appreciation!  Because if we all thought of home as broader-reaching and made meaningful by connections as opposed to thinking more of the walls of our physical home, we could potentially make the world a much warmer place.

I can't believe it but...TEDxWaterloo was a thrilling experience! 

Happy home-making,

Kathy Pettit :)