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desires
October 2009 
What is the difference between wants and needs?
will
There is a huge difference between needs and wants. Needs are a fundamental life requirement that is satisfied by using our introspective gift, guided by the integrity of our mind, moving us into action, manifesting a healthy, productive and happy experience. On the other hand, a want is a psychological aberration that is the result of being extrospective, seeking pleasure and gratification outside of ourselves, seeking approval, looking good in the eyes of others, power, and wealth are all symbols of happiness, but bereft of the experience of happiness. A want is a symbol, that is created by external imagery, whether it be though advertising, or by seeking an invented symbol that represents a realization of that want. Happiness is not the result of filling wants, happiness is the experience of experiencing our integrity.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------. I think the basic problem in life is the confusion between wants and needs. All too often, fundamental needs are compromised by the unconscious invention, or creation of wants, which are merely symbols, or representations that numb and obfuscate that which is needed, compromising our integrity for external appearances. The experience of a healthy body and a happy or peaceful mind is what is needed, but how many of us experience that delight?
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yup yup yup
Agreeing with all you say - let me pose a question.
Let us suppose that you are a man of many passions, and many experiences.
Let us suppose that one of those is sailing and another is biochemistry.
Let us suppose, that as a sailor you know that it is possible to sail around the world - not that you necessarily intend to do it.
Let us suppose that as a biochemist, it is obvious to you that it is possible to extend lifespans indefinitely, and just as the sailor knows it is possible to sail around the world, without knowing beforehand exactly what route he will use.
Let us extend it and suppose that the situation is a little more complex.
Let us suppose that instead of your interests being just those two, your interests extend to mathematics, ecology, economics, physics, politics, psychology, business, philosophy and a bunch of other things.
Now suppose that creating a vision that works requires some knowledge of all these other fields, and you do that.
Then you try to explain it to other people.
There are very few other people with that combination of interests.
Most people, on hearing your idea, categorise you as some sort of nutcase, yet few have the honesty and integrity to say so to your face (most of those who do tell you their honest thoughts become close friends over time).
Knowing that if you keep trying, and over time, eventually more and more people will start to see it as a possibility, you keep talking (after 30 years you start to tire, and you keep going).
Many people say you are just looking for glory - yet a close examination of the reality will show that you are aware that the more you speak about it, the more it costs you, in terms of the opinions of others.
In your deepest intuition, you know that your own life, the lives of all those you love, and the lives of billions of others, can be impacted, if you can find a way to communicate and build a team.
Have you got a want or a need ?
(Of course it is my idea, and to me it seems like a need. I am happiest when I am taking action in forwarding it, even if it means getting escorted off Microsoft's premises by 7 security guards, or going door to door in Pentagon City, very alone and a very long way from home - neither if which were “comfortable”.)
In my opinion, a want is something that is externally directed, a need on the other hand, is internally directed and keeping in harmony with the integrity of one’s mind. Integrity is self rewarding and needs no agreement or approval. The lack of integrity is its own punishment; the Face in the Glass always knows what is so.—————————————————————————————————————————————————- I think all too often, life ‘s purpose gets confused with a ‘want’, which is about being a spectacle, gaining approval, and acceptance, looking good, having titles and badges, position in the community, seeking respect, power and wealth. From my point of view, all that seeking is generated by a lack of self-esteem, thinking that having those “things”(symbols) will transform the image that one sees in the mirror. But the image doesn’t change, and more wants (symbols) are created to fill that emptiness, and the circle continues until, death does its part. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————-.I think that we have two choices in life that are not salient or obvious, and that is living life experientially or conceptually, but making that distinction requires our integrity, which is all to often compromised by directing our focus of fulfillment outside ourselves, which requires creating a symbolic want, which is no more than a mirage and never experienced as fulfilling. Attaining a want, is the so what of life, and that should be obvious, in that it is bereft of passion.———————————————————————————————————————- The question; to be, or not to be is answered with one’s own integrity, or the lack thereof. We can either be in harmony with our integrity and individuality, or create images and mirages of what to be, and then sadly discover that they are like catching soap bubbles, they disappear when we grasp them.————————————————————————————————. I like Emerson’s quote that says: “It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.” That to me, requires absolute courage, the courage to be, the manifesting one’s integrity. I think he manifested that thought in his Harvard Divinity School Address. —————————————————————————
I see the problem of life as being what to be, or to be what? To be something or somebody necessitates a want. Living out of one’s integrity requires nothing, but the courage to be.
Oh! And Ted, I think this gentleman knows what he is speaking of experientially, when he said; “great spirits often encounter violent opposition from mediocre minds”. A. Einstein.