I Think We Think We Know What We Want

Yesterday was nuts.

Oh, before I get too deep into this one…

“Bless me, reader, for I have erred. It’s been about two weeks since my last blog entry.”

Okay. Whew! Glad to get that over with!

Now, back to yesterday…

It’s not really a rant that makes me want to share with you about my Monday – it’s more of how the day ended. Yesterday was, in fact, the first Monday of the New Year (Happy Holidays!), so everywhere I went was a busy place and time.

The last thing on my TDL yesterday was a trip to Wal-Mart. Joy. My wife had texted me a list, but failed to be specific on the brand of laundry detergent – something that actually did matter, because a certain brand had caused a furious case of the itchings and scratchings, and I didn’t want to buy THAT brand again.

I called her cell, to which I reached her voice mail. Drat. I’ll have to make this decision on my own.

And there I stood in the housecleaning supplies aisle of Wal-Mart, studying the many kinds and types of laundry detergent. Again, joy. Finally, I selected one that I thought was a smart move, a ‘free from fragrances' and 'hypo-allergenic’ type of stuff. It made sense to me, so I threw it in the basket and finally headed to the checkout lane without my wife’s input or approval on my selection. Scary, actually.

It’s now pushing ten o’clock, and there are maybe three cashier lanes open. I stand behind a couple and their small child while the young girl working the scanner slid each item across the optic sensor. They paid their bill and left, and it was now my turn.

My cell phone rings.

I answer, and it’s my wife, returning my call. “Hi, did you call,” she says. I said, “Yeah, but I got it figured out. I’m checking out and then heading home.” Remember, I haven’t seen her all day except for about a minute and a half when we traded vehicles that afternoon.

She said, “Okay. Love you,” to which I replied, tiredly, but honestly, “I love you, too,” and I closed the cell phone.

The girl cashier, her name tagged her as ‘Chelsea’, looked up at me suddenly, and said, “Aww, how sweet!”

What made my comment to my wife so sweet that an eavesdropping young lady would comment? I don’t know.

Sometimes I think we think we know what we want, but don’t really have a clue. D’ja catch that? Read it again, then move forward.

Sometimes, we allow outside influences to shape our desires and dreams, thinking that true happiness comes from something that you can own or consume. A cell phone. A new car. A bottle of Jack Daniels. A dime bag.

Other times, we think that we can be happy if we are accepted and confirmed by a group that we have assessed and accepted as being the ‘norm’, and will do whatever it takes to get into AND stay in the ‘norm’.

People catch on to examples lived, and when they truly see or hear the real deal, that genuine article of love, I think it makes them reassess their priorities for happiness.

It’s amazing the things that make a positive impact.

Seeing an old couple hold hands as they walk through the store makes me want to look forward to growing old with Sharon - not grow old alone.

Watching children share their candy or hug their mom and dad makes me love my girls more – not wish I didn’t have them.

Hearing someone say, “I love you” into the mouthpiece of a cell phone, well, everyone likes to be told that they are loved. I couldn’t imagine going through life not hearing my wife and children say “I love you.”

Today, may a stranger see you, watch you, and want that specific something that you have that we all really want – a genuine, unadulterated and reciprocated love.

I John III