It’s ok to not get what we want

Much of what I have achieved in life has been a result of…

   Chasing something else.

I have an incredible job in the NBA because, as hard as I tried, I wasn’t good enough to play in it. 

I live in an amazing city (Portland) because, as hard as I tried, I couldn’t get a job in Orlando.

I work with amazing kids every summer in Zimbabwe because, as hard as I tried, it didn’t work out for me to move to Russia.

And Lord-willing, I will have an amazing wife because, as hard as I tried, it never worked out with someone else.

Sometimes, not getting what we want really sucks.  Sometimes, it’s simply an open door to what’s next…

In Randy Pausch’s book, Last Lecture, he states, “And even though I did not reach the National Football league, I sometimes think I got more from pursuing that dream, and not accomplishing it, then I did from many of the ones I did accomplish.”

The easy thing to do when a door closes is to go back home or “wait for another to open.”

But I’d rather make the assumption that there’s many open doors… and simply keep knocking.

And maybe, I will have learned a thing or two from the last doorstep I was on.