Sunday, September 11, 2011

Recognizing Your True Personal Needs

Ref. Google Images. persuasive.net

Our life has been driven by our needs. These needs might be our instincts, desires, passions and life cravings that bounce out endlessly to prove our very own existence. It is a natural force that drives us for their fulfillment.

All of us living in this planet have a need, from the very tiny microbes to the largest species living here on earth. As a human being, our basic needs would be air, water, food, sunlight, shelter & clothing. Along the way as we fulfill these needs, we tend to discover the most complex ones. It is the need for personal growth, for a meaningful life, for finding life’s purpose, inner desires and self-awareness.
We human beings are alive to fulfill these needs as we fulfill these needs to stay alive.
Our physical sensations and impetuous thoughts let us know that our needs seek fulfillment. 
A very good example is whenever we feel tired and exhausted from all the work we did, our mouth dries up. This bodily reaction makes us realize that we are thirsty and we feel the need to drink. Other example is when we interact with other people because we want to share or express something. We feel the need to be accepted and acknowledge by others in the society or commonly called “social acceptance”.

Once we fulfill our needs, happiness follows through. Happiness is a product of complex needs I’m talking about a while and “Happiness is our true personal need”.
Though happiness depends only on how committed we are in fulfilling these needs. Due to our busy day-to-day lives, we somehow forget to recognize and fulfill these true personal needs of ours.

To be able to achieve this True Personal Need, there must be a deep connection within you. It is a connection that seeks for inner clarity, certainty, and faith in yourself.  But sometimes our connection to our inner self is not fulfilled and when this happens, our “need” is commonly confused to “want”.

Differentiating Need with Want
For us to discover our true personal need, we must know the difference between “needs” and “wants”.
 If you look up in the dictionary and search for the definition of "need", it will give you, “necessity that we must satisfy to ensure our comfort". While the term "want" has the definition, "desire for something". 
I'm not saying that our desire for something is not good, but it's often harmful to our well being.

Here’s an example:
When you say, “I need a new computer”, this means that you have the necessity for long distance communication, researching, and many more uses of computer, that is comfortable and reliable. Perhaps your old computer is broken and uncomfortable to use.

But if you for instance say that “I want a new computer”, even though your current computer is working safe and sound and is comfortable to use, you still buy a new one just to satisfy your emotional cravings. If you buy a new computer, you might probably spend money which you might use in the future.This is why sometimes our wants seduce us into believing that it is our needs. One more thing is that being practical is another way of fulfilling your needs, not your wants.

 It is important that you know how to distinguish the two since it is essential in building goals that bring you true fulfillment.

“The real happiness is achieved when we clearly want to fulfill our needs and not when we need to fulfill our wants”.

We should concentrate our efforts to make our true desires a reality which is a stepping stone to success and discovering true fulfillment. Man falls from the pursuit of the ideal of plan living and high thinking the moment he wants to multiply his daily wants. Man's happiness really lies in contentment. –Mohandas Gandhi



Related Books: Needs and Wants (Pebble Books)Need It or Want It? (Rising Readers)
Looking for personal development ebooks? View free ebooks here.

7 comments:

Issa said...

Hi, Jael. In you I saw a life-guru. :)

Thanks for the doses of encouragement. To live happy is to live satisfied.

Jael said...

Hello Issa, Thanks for your very kind words. It's my purpose to encourage others and help them change for the better. In fact, reading your comment makes me feel very grateful because little by little, I'm fulfilling that purpose. Hope I can inspire more.Thanks again. =)

Balqis DBJ said...

Very inspiring indeed! This is the type of post that can be an eye-opener on how we look at life - what do we really need and want. You had explained it so well. Thanks a lot, Jael. :)

Unknown said...

In Abraham Maslov hierarchy human highest needs is actualization. The need to considered important, to be wanted, beside spiritual, fisiology,physical and other. The thirst of attention.

Jael said...

It is indeed the highest level of needs of man. Recognizing your true personal needs is similar to self-actualization. Self-actualization pertains about finding your purpose in life and finding happiness in fulfilling that purpose. If you don't find happiness in what you think is your purpose, then it's not yet your self-actualization. Similarly, it's not yet your true personal needs. =)

Jacky said...

How do I find/recognize my true personal need?

Roman lesnar said...

I really loved reading your blog. It was very well authored and easy to undertand. Unlike additional blogs I have read which are really not tht good. I also found your posts very interesting. In fact after reading, I had to go show it to my friend and he ejoyed it as well! how to be happy

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