What Our “If Only’s” Tell Us About Ourselves

Girl ThinkingEver had any of these thoughts?

If only I was:

  • Smarter
  • Faster
  • Skinner
  • Younger
  • Older
  • Prettier / more handsome
  • Taller
  • Shorter

Or maybe you’ve had one of these thoughts?

If only I had more:

  • Time
  • Money
  • Free time

You’ve probably had some of these thoughts before and there are probably a few “If only’s” that you have (or had) that aren’t listed, I know there are for me. The most popular ones (according to Google’s autofill search) are time and money.

Are “If only I had more time” or “if only I had more money” phrases that you find yourself saying or thinking on a regular basis?

I bet you don’t really want more time or money. No, really – think about it. When you say or think those things (time, money or otherwise), isn’t there usually a “then I could…” at the end of it or a mental picture of what life would be like if you did have it?

So, do you really want more time, money or whatever it is for you? Or do you want the things that having more of that would allow you to have or do?

For time you might say “If only I had more time, then I could get so much more accomplished in a day.” What you really want is to get more done. You want to have a few more completed items on your to-do list. Right?

When you find yourself saying “If only…”

  1. Ask yourself what it is you really want. What is the “then I could…” that follows?
  2. How can you have a bit more of what you really want right now? It might not look exactly like your ideal, but you can probably take some small steps toward making your ideal a reality.

What’s one of your “if only..” phrases? And what is it that you really want?