Enjoy, don’t need

November 30, 2015 by Joshua
in Perception, Relationships, Tips

What do you need?

Typically responses include food, shelter, love, relationships, vacations, etc.

I’ve written before on the social repulsiveness of neediness (“You need to read this post” and “The risks of saying “I need…”“, for example). Let’s consider the personal perspective.

What perspectives on things can you change from feeling you need them into enjoying them?

What relationships do you feel you need but you could instead simply enjoy? How would enjoying someone being in your life change the relationship compared to needing them in your life?

How would your life change if you looked forward to enjoying your next vacation instead of feeling you needed it?

How about material possession?

If you really want to get extreme, you could ask about the basics of life. People from Socrates to soldiers going into battle felt more strongly about some things than their lives themselves and our society has celebrated many of their choices. You may never have to choose between life and death as others have, but you can still think about how your life would change if you considered food, water, and such things to enjoy, not need? Buddhism and Man’s Search For Meaning explore how much more you can enjoy life when you accept the inevitability of death—an essentially life-affirming perspective that, in my experience, creates happiness, joy, meaning, value, importance, and purpose.

I didn’t mean to get so deep when I started writing this post. The basic idea is a suggestion to change your perspective on things that you feel you need into things that you enjoy.

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