Monday Morning Match is a simple post – maybe a quote, inspirational story or idea – intended to spark some motivation inside each of you so your week gets off to a fantastic start on Monday morning.
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
I enjoyed my 52nd birthday this past weekend. I woke up earlier than everyone else so I took a long walk on a brisk autumn morning. I then ran a few household errands and grabbed coffee with my Mom and daughter Riley, who was home from college for her “fall break.” I enjoyed a little of the college pre-game show before the early college games kicked off and ran out across town to show one house to a client.
I returned from the showing and set up my football watching headquarters in the family room while my son high school son Ryan played X-Box downstairs. Text messages, videos, and social media mentions continued to roll in throughout the day wishing me “Happy Birthday” and the genuine greetings were appreciated very much.
It was quite relaxing, hanging around the house and watching college football all afternoon and evening. We enjoyed a variety of snacks during the early games and cheered for Riley’s South Carolina Gamecocks as they pulled the upset of the day beating #3 ranked Georgia in Athens.
Then it got even better when my client texted me and said he wanted to submit an offer on the house we showed earlier in the afternoon. When the listing agent called me a few hours later to let me know that her clients were going to accept our offer, I thought to myself, “This is a pretty damn good birthday. The only thing that might make it perfect would be a victory for my Florida Gators over #5 LSU in the featured game of the night.”
After grabbing some to-go food for dinner for the family, I settled into my leather recliner and was ready to watch the game. To make a long story short, the Gators battled valiantly but came up short against a very good Tiger team. Sure, I was disappointed they didn’t secure the upset in Baton Rouge but I was proud of the way the team played and look forward to watching them in person next week against Riley’s Gamecocks in South Carolina.
Dang it! That would have made for a perfect birthday, huh? But as the song says, “you can’t always get what you want.”
I headed upstairs to go to sleep and when I got to my bed, I had to push Callie (my 6-year-old labrador retriever) over so I could have some room in the bed. She grunted her displeasure but re-adjusted her body and snuggled up against me. As I dozed off to sleep, one year older than I was almost exactly 24 hours earlier, I asked myself the same three questions I always do;
Did I build relationships today?
Did I solve problems today?
Did I have fun today?
I don’t know about you, but being able to answer “yes” to those questions sure does help me sleep better. I guess when you think about it, Mick and Keith were right…
You can’t always get what you want
but if you try sometimes, well, you might find
you get what you need
The Rolling Stones
Photo courtesy of Tapio Haaja