Wants & Needs

We want more, but we're thankful for less. That is something even I have to remind myself of on a weekly basis....

Once in while I tend to get these moments where nothing in my room feels like it belongs there, so I go on a spring cleaning session to tidy up the mess and find some sort of order. Its at times like these where I'll come across something I haven't seen in a couple of months, sometimes even years. I suddenly remember all the emotions and feelings I had when I got it for the first time, or how badly I wanted to have it. The truth is, it was never something I really needed, or even really had a use for. I might have just convinced myself that it would make my life so much better, used it once or twice, and then discarded of it because I got something new to play with.

We go into the cycles where we would do anything to get that one thing, whether it be a cellphone, a gadget, some shiny new shoes that we so badly want, but do we ever truly and honestly ask ourselves "is this really something I NEED?" If you do, and you can answer honestly, then I applaud you, because I know even I would bend the truth just to make it suit me better.

Truth is, I never did have a use for most of it. Some of it would have made me happy for a while, but after that would lose its appeal, and I'd end up moving to something new. Other things would perhaps improve my social standing with a certain crowd, or a specific individual, but even that wear off.

The easiest way to prove my point, and I did this myself a couple of times, is to make a list of things you'd need if you had to start from scratch. If you had to suffer your house burning down, and the insurance offers to rebuild it from the ashes. They also tell you that all they need from you is a list of things you'd like in your new house, and no matter the cost or item, they will make sure its there. I'm pretty certain that you've already thought of at least 15 things you'd like, and that some of them are things you didn't have before. That's OK,  we're all allowed to have dreams. I also don't expect you to live like you've just come from a cave.

Once that list is made, give it to a friend and ask them to highlight the things on that list you REALLY cannot live without. Items that are bare necessities in this world and everyday life. When you get the list back from them (and its still in one piece, with a few coffee stains.), tick off the things on the list you already have in your house. Now compare the items you've ticked off with the ones your friend highlighted. How many ticks are next to words that haven't been highlighted?

These are things in our lives we need to be thankful for. Not only are they luxuries that enrich our lives, but also things that so many others live without. Even the bare necessities that we have, that we take for granted, are absolute luxuries to many around the world.

BE MORE THANKFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE, TOMORROW MIGHT BE YOUR LAST!