Quick Konversations: A Narrow Search

I was shopping online recently, looking for something specific. Although I knew exactly what I was looking for, I typed in a related item, hoping I could find the item amongst the results. It took quite a bit of scrolling through that vague search for me to finally come across one version of the item I was looking for. My rationale was that if my search was too specific, it would bring back no results. Ultimately I was worried that I wouldn’t find what I wanted. And rather than being specific, I thought it was best to look for what I wanted among a large group of related items.

Fear of disappointment can cause us not to be specific in our requests and search of things we desire. We don’t actually want to settle, but perhaps we are worried that what we actually want can’t be found. If you’re sure of what you want, there’s no such thing as being too specific. You may have to search more diligently or be patient in some instances, but I believe what you want does exist.

The store I was searching was only the second one I had checked, and I was already concerned that I wouldn’t be able to find what I wanted. Perhaps we are narrow in our search, but in the wrong way. Maybe we should be specific about what we want, but be more open about where it may come from. Let’s imagine, you’re searching for your dream job. Typing in “Social Worker” will bring back many results. You’ll get less results if you search “Hospital Social Worker”, but if that’s exactly what you want, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Now, if there are no Hospital Social Worker positions in the hospitals near you, are you open to expanding the search to a different city? Moving isn’t always the change we must make, but it’s our openness to change that sometimes brings us closer to obtaining the thing we want most.

If you’re wondering how my story ends, after scrolling more than I desired, I finally decided to type in and search exactly what I was looking for. Lo and behold, the predictive text brought up what I wanted as a search option, so I selected it. There were only a few items to choose from, but I found one that was just what I needed. It was in stock at the store and in my hands before the day was over.