Want

What do you want?

It is a simple phrase, or is it?

There are only to important words to look at in the sentence You and Want. Each is deeper in meaning then we give them credit for, and I am not going to try to sit here and lay out a functional definition of wither word this morning. Instead I want to look at how the two words play together in this simple phrase.

You: the question asks what you as an individual want. Not what your friends or family want not what your friends and family think you should want not even what advertisers and corporate sponsors think you should want. When I think about this question I must discard what others think and just focus on me.

Is this selfish? No.

If we are going to be happy we must work to get the things that we want. This does not mean for social reasons we will sometimes work towards the wants and goals of a group but we must at the same time be aware of the things we want. Forgetting what we want is a step in forgetting who we are.

Want: The things we want are what bring us joy and happiness but are not necessary for life. Wants can also be a source of stress grief and anguish. This happiness when we want unrealistically. When we feel we must have something to be happy that is far beyond our reach it diminishes the joy we can find in what we have.