As A Result Of

We are so inundated with information, ads, and content. Billions of dollars are spent each year in marketing research. Most of the time the product being studied is us.

Humans know what they need, but Instagram tells us what we want. Every time I ask my friend, “What do you have to get from Target” she says “Target will tell me when I get there”.

That’s the way we will live our lives, we allow what’s around us to dictate our wants and needs. I didn’t need a Popeyes Chicken sandwich but someone posted about it and all of a sudden I think I have to make a detour to get it.

There is no doubt that we all (myself included) are easily influenced.

Things that I've been asking myself while writing this has been:

Do we even know what we want and need?

Can we get a better understanding of what is a want and what is a need?

How can we put those things in their proper place?

We have all probably heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Basic Needs. At the most basic level we all need food, drink, shelter, sleep and oxygen.

After that Maslow describes four other levels of needs. Physical survival needs, love and belonging needs, self esteem needs and lastly, self fulfillment.

I’ve learned that "wants" will fool you into thinking that you are discontent.

We may always live in the tension of feeling like we are missing something even though we have everything.

Isn’t funny how you can have everything you need, but still feel like something is missing.

How can I have everything but still have lack? That’s something we have to wrestle with.

Wants are a desire and needs are required. Having wants is not a bad thing but who have I allowed to dictate what my wants actually are. Does the culture choose my wants or have I truly developed my own desires?

We have to put our wants in the right place, so they don’t lead us down the wrong path.

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