**Note** I didn’t have the ‘net yesterday (a condition to be explained in 1539) so this is a late posting…
I’ve engaged in many discussions as of late about wants and needs. At this stage of my life the needs are primarily centered around family. At most, a roof, a laptop, intimacy, and good conversation are enough to meet my requirements for a very happy life. However, what I want often outpaces what I need. Thanks to Maslow, I recognize that once my basic needs are met, my wants take over and drive my motivations.
Every happy person I’ve asked tells me the secret is to have a reason to keep going. Some people find reason in making more money. Others find family to be the end all. For most of the world it isn’t that black and white. What we have here in my orbit is what I call ‘first world problems’. In other words, for most of the world the idea of struggling to find something to want is as bizarre as watching an alien disembark from a starship only to do an Irish jig before quickly reboarding.
You only struggle to want when you have enough to be happy. I’m far removed from rich people problems (and in a galaxy far far away from rich). The well-documented problem I’ve experienced over the past few years is this cult of satisfaction. I aimed for a particular goal, hit it, and then got fat and lazy on the limited success. The way out of that of course, was to want more—out of myself, out of those around me, out of life itself. So, what is it that I want?
I want to be a best selling author. I want to tell stories that people want to hear and to use whatever wealth comes of that to open a bookstore that perpetuates the idea of storytelling to the next generation. I want to have deep philosophical conversations every night. I want to grow spiritually. I want to stop wanting to look like someone in shape and be someone in shape. I want to know what it feels like once again to say that I want something and have the mental fortitude to set myself towards getting it. I want to know again that I can do whatever I say I mean to do.
Wanting is that first step. We all need to want something in order to find a way to better ourselves, so I ask you: What do you want?