You Get What You Want, But Lose What You Had

Quite recently, I watched “The Princess and the Frog” cartoon. I found it extremely entertaining from the beginning to the end, with songs of substance. One line of the lyrics particularly stuck with me, “You get what you want but lose what you had…”

A prince, who had been cut off from his royal family for being an irresponsible playboy, is ensnared by a fortune teller who claims he can read his future. This mystic entices him into believing that he can change his life through voodoo, and the prince finally agrees. The minute he shakes hands with the mystic, the transformation begins. To the prince’s utter disgust, he finds himself reduced to a frog, and is left to find his way to break the curse.

In the dark and eerie background, the mystic and his ‘friends from the other side’ echo these words,” Can you feel it? … You're changin', all right!...I hope you're satisfied…But if you ain't. Don't blame me. You can blame my friends on the other side!....You got what you wanted! But you lost what you had!

It is a little scary at times, to see the extent that people would go to get what they want. Human desires are so powerful that we want to have what we want, at the exact moment, if possible. I have heard of some people who have visited witch doctors to make themselves ‘invincible’ to obtain whatever they desire. There are also those who misuse their intelligence and resort to cheating innocent victims.

Through my observations, some of these people strive to get what they want. With determination and persistence, they sure did – but sadly, not by using the right means. They got what they wanted, but they certainly lost what they had, some beyond retrieval.

In Relationships:

Wanted: Pleasure, happiness and the thrill of momentous lust
Means: Illicit affairs or irresponsible behavior
Cost: Beautiful friendships / love of a lifetime, integrity & trust
From friendships to affairs -things may never be the same again…

In Search of Fame:

Wanted: To rub shoulders with important and famous people
Means: Favors beyond values and beliefs & changing oneself to please everybody
Cost: Dignity, self-identity, innocence & sincerity, integrity, sense of right or wrong, and the sincere people around you

You may only realize what kind of person you have become, after you have already lost so much…

In Making Money:

Wanted: To be rich quickly
Means: Participating in immoral and unlawful businesses
Cost: Integrity, tarnished reputation (if caught), hurt lives, true love and friendships

Everything is money, but money is NOT everything…the means to the end DO matter….

Sometimes we humans tend to forget that some things in life can be sold, but never bought back. Some things can be purchased with money, but never sold in return. And there are others that can neither be bought nor sold.

The fact that life is like a circle tends to evade our memories. If something doesn’t get back to us now, it may hit on our children or grand children. In fact, some of the blessings or curses that we experience today may actually come from the seeds of good or evil sown by our forefathers. What goes around comes around.

While contemplating this, I look at my own life. There are days that I wish for a change; something new, something better. Maybe a little difference in my lifestyle, location, experiences etc. At times, opportunities are laid along the way. But they never fail to bring me back to this - I may get what I want, but am I willing to lose what I had?

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
Matthew 16:22 (The Bible, New Living Translation)