"You Can't Always Get What You Want..."

I heard it again, last night.

It seems I always hear this song when I'm waiting for something to happen. It's uncanny. Sometimes it comes up when I've applied for a job and am waiting to hear the results. Other times it's when I'm almost done with a project that I just want to end; then I hear this song and I wonder if the project I'm working on indeed will ever end!

The serendipity of it used to drive me nuts.

I would then share with my wife... "I heard it again," and she reminds me the phrase ends with, "...but you get what you need." This usually calms me down and allows me to sit back and think for a minute. I then remember that I can control much of what I do in my life, but I can't control how others will react, or other external influences over which I have no control. So it helps me focus on what I can do now, and then I usually stop worrying (finally) about what the hell others may think about it later on.

I've been sitting around waiting for a response from ANYONE with some feedback on these dissertation ideas. I "WANT" feedback...now. Guess I can't always get it. I NEED the time to read, to think, to try to work out some of the ideas on my own. I have the time now, so guess I should start using it well.

One of my professors did get back to me yesterday, so the ball is finally rolling toward making some progress. This is good. Hopefully I'll make better use of my time now and focus on what I can control instead of waiting around for things to happen to me.

Apologies if this sounds self-helpish, but I suppose it is helpful to take a virtual pen in hand and get these thoughts out of my head. Thanks for reading.