Wanting or Wishing

Today I was thinking about the different between wanting and wishing. I was thinking about how so many of us make statements like "I want to be successful in business" or "I want to be more healthy". Often these statements reveal good intention, but do not result in action.

I think that often we are really wishing more than anything else. Most of the time I feel that when we say we want something, we really mean we just wish things were that way. We are not actively involved in changing our circumstances, but if someone offered to come along and suddenly fix everything then we wouldn't stop them. Thinking about this made me wonder just what we mean when we say "want".

Literally, the word "want" only communicates a desire or wish for something. If I were to say "I want a drink of water," it simply reveals my desire to drink some water. In reality, though, this would imply I will now go and get some water or I expect someone to give me some. It would be odd for someone to say "I want a drink of water" and for no action to result.

I suppose "want" and "wish" are similar, yet in everyday usage "wish" is more likely to be used in situations where there is no hope of it happening. "I wish I was at the beach" might be muttered under one's breath during a board meeting, for instance.

The reason I was thinking about this so much was the realisation that my life is full of "wants" that don't result in any significant action. I want to be more like Jesus. I want to have more clients with my business. I want to understand God's plan for me better. I want to speak French better for my girlfriend. I feel as if I'm kidding myself when I think of all these things. Desires that don't result in action are nothing more than well-intentioned imaginings.

I've decide that I need to change that. I must consciously choose to be active and not passive. That's something I'm choosing to do from this moment on. I'm going to challenge myself whenever I think or say something that starts with "I want...". It's time to act on the things that I think are important and not just wait for them to happen. Life doesn't happen by accident.

Collin vs. Fruit

I was visiting my good friend Collin the other day there and he was getting a bit frustrated with his final year project/dissertation. After a flash of inspiration, Collin moved to the garden to try a "stress relief" exercise involving a variety of fruit and his father's antique golf club.

Hope

 
It's taken me several weeks to actually write about this, but there's a very special person in my life now. Her name's Hana (or حنان [Hanen] in Arabic) and she's the most amazing person I've ever met. We're getting to know each other and learning all kinds of great things along the way. She lives in Marseille and I've been apart from her for a week now. It's been a lonely time without her, but I'm going back to see her in a few weeks so that makes it a bit easier.

It seems a bit surreal. You wait your whole life for something and then when it happens you don't feel ready.

Back in Scotland

So it's been a while since I've written in here. Sometimes I just get fed up with documenting my life online so I had a wee break.

Last night I flew home from Marseille and am currently adjusting to my parents' place, which I tend to return to from time to time.

My flights home were a bit of a nuisance as both of them were running late. In addition to that, it seemed to be the first really hot day in Marseille this year. I say "really hot" from a West of Scotland mindset here. I was in jeans and wishing I was in shorts. The airport was a bit warm as well, right enough, which was a bit uncomfortable.

My first flight was delayed by an hour and a half. At first I wasn't too concerned because it would cut down my wait at London Gatwick from 3.5 hours to "just" 2 hours. However, when I arrived at Gatwick my second flight was also delayed. It would be half an hour late in leaving. By this time, the shops were all closing as well so there wasn't much I could do to pass the time.

I started wandering towards my gate, not in any great hurry. At one point I took a wrong turn and ended up heading towards a dead end. There was a flight leaving to Dubai, but no other signs of life. As I walked on the moving walkway there was a guy in front of me on a micro-scooter, scooting along. He was black, dressed in a light brown tracksuit and listening to an iPod. (or using the white headphones at least)

As I walked to the end I realised my gate was no longer one of the options so I started walking back the way. This is a lot longer when the walkways are moving in the wrong direction. As I walked, one of the ladies from the Emirates gate for the Dubai flight was walking in the same direction. She asked if I was lost and we started to chat as we walked. Then the guy on the scooter passed again, this time towards me on the carpet. I thought he looked familiar and she said, "That's Chris Eubank, trying to draw attention to himself." It was then that I realised where I had seen the face. It really was the English boxer, Chris Eubank. Fancy that, I thought. She the proceeded to tell me about how he's always trying to draw attention to himself. It was funny to hear her rant. Personally, I would have really liked to have a micro scooter at that time. I think it's quite a good idea for these long corridors.