“God says: Take what you want and pay for it!” – Spanish Proverb
Author Dorothy Van Doren once wrote an entire article around the Spanish proverb above. She wrote that when she first heard the proverb, it actually frightened her: “I used to dream of an Angel with a flaming sword. But as I thought more about it, I realized that the Angel held not a sword but a balance.”
Her eloquent illustration actually left more of an impact on me than the proverb, itself.
Imagine a scale for a minute. On one side, we can put our heart’s desire – usually one of the ones listed below:
- We want more money.
- We want to lose weight.
- We want a promotion.
- We want more traffic to our web site or blog.
- We want a closer relationship with our spouse.
- We want our kids to be successful.
Irregardless of our own personal desires or needs, we have to realize that nothing is free in life. I went to Target today and found the things I wanted: cat food, sinus medicine, white grape juice, and bleach. I put them into the cart one at a time and wheeled along my familiar path to the cashiers. After placing my goods on the conveyor belt, I got out my billfold, after all the things I want come with a price tag (even though the one on the sinus medicine should have been ashamed of itself).
The process inside Target isn’t any different from the one outside Target. Nothing comes free in life. If we want to lose weight – there’s a price we have to pay. We have to eat healthier foods and get more exercise. It’s the exchange we make in order to have our heart’s desire.
If we want more web traffic, a job promotion, better relationships, or success in any area – we have to give in order to get. This simple little truth is the basis of most self improvement and growth. No one’s going to come along and do the work for us and no one’s going to hand us everything we want wrapped in gold foil.
We can’t sit back and keep on doing what we’ve been doing – especially if it isn’t working. If we “think” we’ve been doing enough (paying the price we need to pay) we might need a wake up call. The bottom line is, if the price we’re paying isn’t achieving what we want, we’re pretty much counterfeiters. We aren’t fooling anyone but ourselves. The scales aren’t balanced because what we’re giving doesn’t weigh as much as what we want.
When we make the necessary adjustments and give as “good” as we hope to get – that’s the spot where magic happens and dreams come true.