Need and want…

I was doing some random skimming through a magazine last night and a particular article caught my eye. It talked about three women who, despite being way below the poverty line, had adopted children and were giving them a good life.

I started thinking about how many people I knew who would be that selfless. Who would be willing to live a life that is so untouched by greed or want for something or someone?

I couldn’t name anybody L

All of us want something. All of us have a hidden agenda somewhere. Dig deep enough and there is always a motive, no matter how sub-consciously embedded it is.

We all want a vacation.., that salary increase…, that perfect life fraught with materialistic things…Why are these wants so ubiquitous? Before you get rid of one there is another one knocking down your door.

Really come to think of it and you will find that some of the things that bring the greatest joy are not “things” at all. A hidden smile, a private joke, a hug, the feeling you get when you read a warm letter, playing your favourite sport, the joy of singing the way you want to, your dog wagging its tail when it sees you, the smell of your mum’s cooking…this list is endless! Yet all of us strive to make misery where we can.

If you don’t get what you want (and it’s usually something worldly that seems completely absurd after you really think about it) you crib, you cry, you vent, you rave…not once stopping to think about where this is taking me, will this make me truly happy?

What makes us forget the little delights?

As a generation, are we getting so caught up in attaining better, bigger, shinier things and becoming so acquisitive that we forget what is everlasting may actually cost nothing?

There is a very thin line between need and want. Very few people are able to walk that line and be altruistic enough to give back.

I’ll endeavor to get there someday.