be careful what you ask for

Here’s a cautionary tale about a man I’ll call Doug. Doug is a forceful man. He’s a big guy, barrel chested and full of things to say. His work history includes qualifying both as a butcher and a builder. Doug is old-school to the core. Doug found it very hard to stop shaking hands with everyone for Covid. Doug has generally found the whole Covid thing challenging but Doug did what Doug does in a pinch; he put his head down and worked.

Then, like us, Doug’s landlord put his house on the market due to Covid. Damn Covid. Doug was heartily sick of renting so he set about buying a home for himself and his partner. He wanted a little nest for them to live out their days in. He’s over 60, she’s pushing it, so it was high-time, in his opinion, that they had a place to call their own.

They had a false-start with one property. The seller was a bit shonky. The landlord and selling agent of their rental were being difficult. It was a rough few months for Doug and his partner. His stress started to show at work. He made himself a little unpopular with his blustery manner. The boss didn’t appreciate getting mucked around with days off.

So naturally, Doug was over the moon when they signed the paperwork on their own little patch of heaven. It needed work but his building skills would come in handy. Looking back, I am just grateful his butchering skills weren’t called for. He set about making their little house perfect, working night and day, and managing to turn up to a few shifts on the day job, too. He was stressed and working long hours. His work was suffering, but the house was going to be perfect.

Finally the projects were complete and they could move in. They called their little patch of heaven home for a few weeks before the partner left. Doug was blindsided. The Dear Doug letter was completely out of the blue but if he’d been paying attention he might have seen the writing on the wall. Doug thought he had everything he dreamed of, he’d set a goal and worked harder than ever to get it.

But he forgot to be happy along the way.

We’ve all heard of the law of attraction and I believe the emotion most likely to produce wonderful results in our lives is JOY.

What’s the moral of this cautionary tale?

The universe conspires to give us what we desire but when we let fear suck the joy out of life we need to be careful what the universe ‘thinks’ we’re asking for. Doug forgot joy and gratitude in his frenzy to realise the dream of his own home and by the time he looked up he was alone.

Don’t be like Doug.