What a woman wants...

As Valentine's Day approaches, the question on many mens minds is what to get my loved one for the blessed day. Flowers, the good old standby, are fine and appreciated, but the prices have ballooned out of control. A dozen roses delivered is now nearing the price of an ipod Nano, let's compare the two.... dead in a week (roses of course) to hours of coolness and entertainment (which of course she could share). Now, are electronics romantic, well....load the puppy up with "your song" or her favorite video and you are good to go. Other thoughts might be my personal favorite Chocolate. The good stuff. I am not talking about picking up a bag of peanut M&Ms and calling it good, well...unless she REALLY likes them.

Or, I know this is a novel idea, ask. What is wrong with a simple discussion, heck, you could slip it in over a commercial break, over breakfast, over the phone, even over IM. And as women, shouldn't we know what we want, and not be afraid to ask for it? I know that flies in the face of conventional wisdom, but why not? Yes, go ahead and use the argument of "If he really loves me, he will know what I want." I don't buy it.

Recently, I had watched the movie "The Secret" and one of the principles they discuss is asking for what you want, create a vision board of the things you want and focus on them each day. So, cool I thought, I can do that. I sat there for several minutes, what do I want? Sadly, I didn't know. Surely I could have listed a number of things, mostly coming from the Apple store, but is that really what it would take to make me blissfully happy? Would they alone do the trick? Once I got them, then what? What things would really make a difference in my life? Is it cash, if so what would I buy, and then what? Why is this so hard?

So when it really came down to it, what I wanted most was time. Time with my family and friends, doing the things that I love, and the things that challenge me. Having never encountered someone who was magically given an extra 4 hours per day, I focused on things that would help me in those areas, and why not dream big while we are at it. Here are a few things that are on my vision board; a vacation home, an art studio space, a gallery showing of my art, the HGTV dream home, $52 million, and an easel. I am sure that list will change and grow, but if I had such a hard time with the things that really matter to me, and wasn't sure exactly what I wanted, how can I expect someone else to know.

Personally, for Valentine's Day, I already made my request, an artists easel for my office. Wanting to spend some time working on other artistic pursuits, this is a tool ya just can't live without.

So, for Valentine's Day, or just for life, what are the things on your vision board? Do you even know?