You can't always get what you want.

If you asked me, I could produce a relatively long list of things I wish I could have. I'd probably have to separate them into categories - something like material, emotional, physical... I have a very strong suspicion that I am not alone in this.

Think about it. There are so many things that have been created to help one achieve something he or she wishes were different. Ladies can wear heels if they think they're too short. Someone like Tom Cruise can be shot from a lower angle to appear taller. There's rhinoplasty if you were born with a nose that gives you a lack of confidence. Hair dye. Colored contacts. Spanx - for women AND men. Gambling. Medication.

But what about knowing something is just beyond your reach and you feel like you can't (or maybe WON'T) grab for it? Is there some sort of comfort in being without an object, idea, or person simply because the act of actually having it is that much scarier?

When you have a moment, refer back to my blog about liking the bad boys. Not too long ago, I had a conversation with a friend who took a moment to play therapist. She claimed that my interest in someone to whom I would never be attached really came with the thought of knowing there was zero threat in the attraction. Pretending and dreaming can be fulfilling simply because we know that we are actually released from responsibility or the chance of being hurt.

Wanting and longing - for anything - is constant, and sometimes the release from achievement can almost be a let down. We move on to the next thing, the next goal. We need to be stretching ourselves towards something. In high school, maybe it was a crush or an unrequited attraction. In college, it could've been completion of a difficult course. And, in later life, it becomes about achieving happiness and success, bits of which tend to elude us.

The person, the job, the house, the car, the body... We aim to make changes in the hopes of getting just what we want. But in not being able to touch exactly what we hope for, maybe we will instead discover exactly what it is we need. The journey is the important part, and in working towards whatever it is you hold in your mind or heart, you might stumble across the things that possess the bigger reward.

But it doesn't mean you won't keep going.

"But if you try sometimes, you might just find, you get what you need."