Having...

My oldest brother was once into Star Trek. Not into as much as "lets all dress up and go to conventions" or "I can name all parts of the Enterprise" but he did have a poster. It was a "Everything I know I learned from X." Well I remember reading every last Spok-ish message on that poster, but I can't remember any, except for one: Having is not such a pleasing thing as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.

I have only experienced this a few times in my life, and obviously I have always been disappointed when I have. Almost every time it has revolved around some gift that I had wanted so badly for so long. I would build it up in my mind forever and think about all the possibilities I could have with my gift. I would know the page of the catalog it was on by heart and would turn to it often. I wanted it so badly that when I finally got it I realized that it wasn't exactly what I thought it was. In those instances I understood what Spock meant, wanting is more pleasing than having for certain things (food is excluded in most cases). I very recently had this experience again. I was so excited and emotionally invested that when my desire came to fruition it seemed trivial to other things. What then, does this teach me? Or what should I learn from this experience? Should I not want things? No, I think desire of things is natural and leads to self-improvement. I think rather that I need to look at those things which I do desire and be realistic about what they can and more importantly cannot do for me. Realism, though sometimes a hard pill to swallow, will prevent disappointment.