Dear Santa, I Thought You Could Read My Mind...

How many times in our lives do we receive gifts we don’t really need or want, and seethe internally because the other person was not sensible enough to anticipate our true wishes?
We may come up on a birthday, or other Holiday, and, once asked what we would like, our answer simply is: “Oh, you don’t have to worry about a gift. I really can’t think of a thing.” Deep down, we expect to be showered with lavish gifts and attention because the other person SHOULD want to make us happy, but our pride stops us from expressing what we really want. We expect people to read minds, and are disappointed if the other party’s “psychic” qualities are not as sharp as we thought.
Many years ago, I used to work at a downtown hotel as front desk supervisor. The reservation manager surprised us one morning by telling us that she would be leaving.
My heart leapt at the opportunity; I really wanted that job. I immediately went to the front office manager and volunteered to keep up with the reservation work after my colleague left. The two weeks passed by. I arranged my schedule so I could be in the reservation office during the day, and still be able to oversee front desk operations. By now, I thought, the job was certainly mine. I had learned anything there was to learn about reservations, and could envision the front office manager coming up to me and beg me to take the position.
About a week after that, bright and early one morning, a young girl showed up at the front desk and asked for me. She told me her name and said that she had been hired for the reservation manager position; furthermore, the front office manager told her that I would be training her, and how excited I would probably be to resume my regular job.
I was floored. All I had hoped for, and worked so hard to achieve, was crumbling in front of me like a house of cards. Maybe there was a mistake, I thought.
But it was no mistake. Jane took over the reservation office, and I went back to my old job. What went wrong? Why didn’t I get the position?
I realized then that I had never asked for the job after all. I volunteered to help, yes, but never formally said anything about wanting the position. In fact, every chance I had, I always reminded the front office manager how much I loved my regular job and my customers! I had dug my own career’s grave by not stating clearly what I really wanted, assuming that he could read my mind.
Most of us readily expect others to KNOW what we wish, but we are the only ones who know what’s important to us.
That situation taught me to be more direct and make sure that people know exactly what I expect. Whether they will comply or not is a different thing, but at least I will never have to beat myself up for losing an opportunity to the demon of improper communication.

Angels or Demons?

A few days ago, while talking to a friend, I learned that one of her co-workers is hoping to get a new job which she applied for last week.
This lady-I will name her Lauren to maintain her privacy-has held on to the same job for over a decade; although she loves what she does, she feels as if there are no challenges left for her in her current position. In addition to the general feeling of being on a dead-end street when it comes to her professional growth, Lauren has also been having trouble in dealing with a new supervisor in her office.
She has been there for so long that she can attend to her job requirements with eyes closed, yet the supervisor continues to breathe over her neck making her life miserable. When I spoke with her, Lauren readily admitted that the hellish supervisor was the main reason why she set out looking for another job. Had she not been looking, she would have missed the wonderful opportunity of advancement this new position offers, and would have probably chosen to remain in the unrewarding, yet familiar type of work. The figure of the supervisor was a catalyst for the change, and the feelings she triggered in Lauren were the fuel needed to nourish the flame of courage necessary to start her engine.
In our lives we all do that a lot. When blessings come knocking on our door, we often mistake them for a crude joke of destiny. As hard as it to recognize a blessing when it is clad in unpleasant garments, we should always assume that everything happens for a specific reason. We pray for change, yet we get angry and annoyed while the road to our desired wish is being paved.
A few years ago, I read a wonderful book which related the journey of a spiritual Master. One day, the Master was visited by the town drunk, who was belligerent and disrespectful, waiting only for a chance to start an argument. The Holy Man asked him if he could pray for him, and only demanded one favor: from then on, the drunken man would have to accept everything that manifested in his life, whether it was good or bad, without questioning it. After a prayer is sent out, the Holy Man explained, any unfolding event is simply one more step toward achieving one’s heart desire.
If we pray for more financial affluence, a sack of money won’t just appear in the middle of our kitchen table; rather, we may have to lose our present job position to free ourselves from the chains that hold us back, and have the opportunity to find more financially rewarding employment. Similarly, if we ask to become more courageous, or better parents, we may first have to go through the ‘basic training’ of a few unpleasant experiences, before we can develop the attributes we wish for.
All the people we meet, and all the apparent trials we endure hold the potential of helping us become the type of person we want to be. Everything is placed on our path for our greater good, whether we do or don’t recognize its value in the greater scheme of things.
We may not understand why something is happening, but we can’t judge the importance that such an event might have in our life.
Maybe it is time that we all learn that even demons, most often, are nothing more than just angels in disguise.