What Do You Want?

This question is wildly so much harder than it seems. Many clients come into the counseling office because something is off in their life. They're unhappy, they're frustrated, they're overwhelmed. But when I ask them what they hoping to get out of the experience, sometimes it's very hard for them to tell me.

What do you want?

Being disgruntled is a great place to start. Knowing what you don't want is better than knowing nothing at all. But the harder question will always be, "What do you want?"

Sometimes we don't know what we want until we don't have it. We may know what we're supposed to want. But once we start walking towards it we may feel less and less satisfied.

Longing starts to show up in our disatisfaction. We start dreaming of a better situation. Our fantasies are revelatory. They may not tell you exactly what you want, but they will give you a new direction to start walking.

What do you want now?

Start walking toward the thing you think you want. Be honest with yourself and start walking to see what happens. As you walk you will realize if it's a satisfying direction or if you find yourself a new place that is unsatisfying in a new way. Walking forward is really the only way. Re-asssessing regularly keeps your corrections to the minimum. Don't walk for twenty years without checking back in. That's a long way to have to recover from.