What do we want versus what do we need!

I was first introduced to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs when I was in high school.  I found it intriguing because I was a scared kid on the inside and a part-time, rehearsed extrovert on the outside. At 16, I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life, nor did I want to truly dig deep and find out what is it that my soul needed.

I am now 39. I wanted a great husband, a beautiful child, a nice house, fairly decent career and to feel loved all the time. In reality I had a husband, a child, a home, a waning career and for the last two years of my life trying to maintain that cycle (and not doing a very good job of it) I felt alone and unloved.

We all muddle through life with this power struggle between what we want and what we need.

My needs have always been very basic… safety and love, esteem and self-actualization intrigued me, but it didn’t drive me … I’m lucky because I’ve always been driven by circumstance or longing to change a circumstance.  It is now at the tender age of 39… I realize that perhaps I should stop being intrigued with the hierarchy and examine myself as I relate to the hierarchy.

I still don’t know what I want… but I think the basic need of all humans is to be loved and then you take it from there.

…who knows… that’s just my 0.02 cents!