Ask and you shall... Receive?

I just read something that has really got me thinking. I alternately love and hate when things make me start thinking. Because I can never guarantee that my train of thought will travel down a happy path. I suppose I'm melodramatic that way.

Anyway, the gist of the story I here was whether or not asking for what you want is the right tactic to take. It started out with something inconsequential like a pair of designer sunglasses for a birthday gift but ended with the author's more personal and emotional wants.

This has gotten me thinking about my own wants and why I either do or do not ask them to be met given the particular situation. I'm pretty good at the little things. I want a hug/kiss. I want you to come to this event with me. I want to see you. And for the most part my wonderful friends and family are good at accommodating me. We, as a collective group, are pretty good at that.

But what about the things I want that I am afraid to ask for? I'm more likely to just squash my own dream than ask for something that I want. Especially if I know that the thing I want is something someone does not want to give me. Or even worse, something they think I am stupid and silly for wanting.

And what if you finally get up the nerve to ask for something you want and get turned down? What then? Do you give up hope of having that particular thing and carry on with life? Or do you seek what you want elsewhere?

Also, do you ever stop wanting something because you know you can not have it? It seems that there should be some self-preservation method where by you stop desiring things that you can not have right? Like how someone who is lactose intolerant does not crave dairy products? Or a smoker ends up despising the smell of smoke?