You can’t always get what you want

This past week I was reminded that you don’t always get what you want and in doing so you have a choice of your reaction.

My daughters and I were going through a website with funny pictures of people and animals with funny captions. One was a scanned image of a letter from a boy to Santa. In the letter, the boy was explaining how good he had been this past year, citing several examples, and reminded Santa what was on his list. It turns out the boy did not get what he wanted, but some other gifts that he thought were very inferior. His letter closed with an explanation to Santa of how bad the little boy would be this next year because his good deeds did not pay off last year.

I was reminded that just because “the right thing” doesn’t work once, doesn’t mean you should give up on it. Doing the right thing is an investment and sooner or later it will pay off. If you give your time to Church, professional organizations, spend time with the local food pantry, or whatever, people will notice. Will it be enough to have the proper contacts when suddenly find yourself out of a job or foreclose on your mortgage? Perhaps not, but don’t give up on volunteering your time and making those contacts. It is then when you need them the most.

Making relationships is an investment. It takes time to grow. Don’t be that little boy and be bad the second year because his good deeds from the first did not pay off the way he expected. You have a choice to continue to do the right thing even after it doesn’t bear fruit immediately.