May 18, 2009

Want Versus Need

I've learned  a lot in the last 12 painful months of my life. One lesson in particular has perhaps stood out above all others and for the first time in 35 years on this journey I think I'm finally beginning to get it. It's the basic concept of want versus need...

What I want...
To be rich (oh come on like you don't). To have the resources to get whatever I want, whenever I want and never have to have a second thought about it.

What I need...
Enough.

What I want...
To be wildly successful in my chosen vocation and make a name for myself that lives on long after I've checked out.

What I need...
To do my best wherever I find myself.

What I want...
For my children to be wildly successful in their own right. For them to have the resources to have whatever they want, whenever they want and to never give a second thought to it. For them to never experience pain, regret or sadness.

What I need...
To love my kids with every fiber of my being and let God take care of the rest.

What I want...
To be loved and respected by everyone in the world.

What I need...
To remember that my worth cannot be shaped or altered by a single human being on this planet. To remember that my value was set before I breathed my first breath by one far greater.

I heard a great prayer from the book of Proverbs a couple of weeks ago in church.

Proverbs 30:7-9 (New International Version)

 7 "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; 
       do not refuse me before I die:

 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; 
       give me neither poverty nor riches, 
       but give me only my daily bread.

 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you 
       and say, 'Who is the LORD ?' 
       Or I may become poor and steal, 
       and so dishonor the name of my God.

 Good stuff. Simple stuff. Words to live by.

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