Needs vs. Wants

Wants and Needs. We are told to differentiate when we consider money. What do you want versus what do you need. Need: necessary for organisms to live a healthy life. Want: something that is desired. Would you rather be necessary or desired? I would rather be desired. Being necessary creates obligation. Obligation creates guilt and resentment. Guilt and resentment breed worse emotions. Desire is just as hopeless, I suppose. Desire leads to expectations which are then disappointed. Or, desire leads to love, unconditional love.... worship maybe, but that goes too far. I want to be wanted, not needed. I have often felt needed, rarely felt wanted. I think we mistake them for each other. I want you, I need you, oh baby oh baby. Need makes me afraid. I am afraid to need. Need creates obligation. Obligation creates the opportunity for failure. I am afraid to need for fear that I will be failed when I need most. Want is more empowering. If I want you, but I don’t need you, then you can come and go and I will be left wanting, but not desperate. What is the purpose of life? To glorify God and enjoy Him. How do we enjoy Him? By enjoying the good things he has created. How do we glorify him? By loving him and loving our fellow man. The purpose of life is to love and find joy. Need is not love. Need creates the opportunity for idol worship, need creates the opportunity for hatred. Wanting, in contrast, creates the opportunity for love, for desire, the failure to fulfill want could lead to such sins as jealousy and covetousness. I suppose all leads to conflict and negativity and sin. I still believe Want is less likely to than Need. I want to be wanted so I have made myself needed without needing. In consequence I find myself wanting and unwanted by not needing but by being needed. I have successfully gained that which I never wanted in pursuing being wanted. Because, in the end, I am never enough. Those who thought they needed me soon find other ways to fulfill their needs and I’m not sure anyone ever wanted me, if they did, in my absence (which I am frequently absent) they find other ways to fulfill their wants. This is the path down which I spiral.