You don’t always get what you want.

Have you ever been up late or found yourself enthralled by an infomercial at any time of the day? For me, they became great company during the breast-feeding years, as did the US Open. When you get sucked into one of these song and dance displays of fast-talking-order-now-TV-speak, it eventually gets easier to get get sucked in, right? Then you walk into Walgreens or visit a garage sale and there is what the thing you had just shelled out more money to have now… but you have to wait. The validity of these programs is not on the table. What I want you to relate to is the concept of the impulse buy from an infomercial.

Shift gears and now think of a situation in your life that you are praying for guidance upon. It can be of the physical world or something more abstract, such as the healing of a loved one. When you pray, there is usually a bit of faith involved or prayer wouldn’t have been an option. So you pray, and part of you has faith, but you are just not sure when the prayer will be answered. In the Tao Te Ching, one of the verses is “Although the Tao (Universe) is formless and empty, it never fails to provide.” In the Book of Chronicles in The Bible, there is a verse, “Look to the Lord and seek His strength.”

Now, back to our late night purchase from that oh-so-convincing infomercial. We have placed that order, yet we do not know what the outcome of either the product arriving or our putting effort into using said product will have results we desire. Sometimes the results aren’t what we thought we were getting.

Prayers are similar. We might pray for a desire, or a particular outcome of an illness or situation, and don’t get what we wanted. Then, it’s tempting to take back your problem and go searching for what you originally wanted. It might go as far as to stop asking or praying because how can it be answered, everyone else has it easier, they have the product, life, or relationship that I want. In my own life I often say, “God, you can have these problems, let me handle the important ones. Let me spend time going around to all the stores to see if I can get that item I ordered.” It’s like I can’t wait for the arrival of my magnificent purchase. I am going to take charge and get it.

It’s possible to over extend ourselves while running around trying to get what we wanted. We asked and, instead of being patient, we waste lots of energy with an intention of getting that item because we obviously can’t wait.

Prayers will be answered, yet effort on our part is necessary. The effort involved is trusting the process. The best thing is to pray, surrender, and let the feeling of our prayers flow through us when we sit quietly and talk to our spirit.

That is pretty simple, but how many times do we get in our own way?

Even if you order a thigh master, it has to be used. One of the priciples of Kabbalah, and many other religons, is to be proactive and not reactive. Try to re-wire yourself by pushing any negative thoughts aside. Over time, the mental muscle gets so strong that you simply jump into the pool of life and know that you can swim, especially if you prayed to be a swimmer.

Denise Cook is a mother, yoga teacher, and blogger in Denver. She studies esoteric spirituality and religions in her spare time. The teacher she referred to in the article was her first Ashtanga Asana teacher, Beryl Bender-Birch. For information on Denise’s classes and workshops, you may visit her website.