wandering star

We'd just had a networking Happy Hour and, as always, I was struck by how accomplished and ambitious the people who surround me are. It had been an evening of animated conversation, business cards slipped across tables, and fast and furious Blackberry-ing.

The crowd thinned out and I sat and talked to two women. Oddly, I found myself talking about Tibetan refugees in India, and how Tibetan parents send their children through mountain passes, often by themselves, so that they can reach the Dalai Lama's schools in northern India. I thought about how bad things must be for you to risk sending your children through such a dangerous trek, and how much better you must think the possibilities are.

And then, sipping my over-priced imported beer, I thought about my life. Not about how easy I have it (and in the grand scheme of things, I really do), but how my drumbeat of "I want" is so preposterous. I have more than enough of the things that count, and a lot of things that are 'icing', too. Someone once said that happiness isn't having what you want, it's wanting what you have. And, at least briefly, I really get that.