want v. need

want v. need
what drives you?

oh the struggle we face daily-
the push and shove, the tug and pull, the flip and flop of WANT v. NEED

people claim to 'need' many things, when in reality we need very little. in fact we need water, food, social interaction, and sunlight to live..oh and a atmosphere that sustains human life- that would be good too. but outside of that what more do we need?

now don't you worry, this isn't going to be a rant of 'going green' or 'throwing away your attachments to all things material'...its more or less me complaining about peoples lack (or refusal) to understand the concept of them NOT needing something, but wanting it badly.

if you grew up where i did, it wasn't uncommon for mommy and daddy to pay for everything. the large portion of my friends never knew what a 'budget' was, or how to pump their own gas, and had no idea that money came from any other place other than a VISA card...not to say that they were spoiled, because i'm sure some may have appreciated the gifts their parents gave them...but i'm more inclined to believe that felt it was owed to them.

my sister and i didn't grow up like most of the kids we lived around. sure, we were given a lot (in retrospect, more than we deserved), but our parents kept that balance between want and need. we also had to pay for gas...which to me in high school was a big deal.

my sister and i always understood (mostly due to my father hammering it into our brains) "you don't need that, you merely WANT it"

and thus is life-
you don't need that girl in your life in order to be happy...but you want her.
you don't need to make more money in order to sustain your life...but you want it.

so why is there this awful stigma with wanting more??
we, (myself included) feel people who constantly want are shallow, empty, and materialistic.
we often ask of these people "can't you just be happy with what you have?"
but shouldn't we ask ourselves "why do we choose to settle?"

point being-
i want a lot of things out of life..
most of which i suppose i don't really NEED.
but should a global, US lead, recession force me to stifle my dreams?
should the era of 'cutting back' and 'conservation' mean goals as well as papers and plastics?

sure, i don't need a promotion...
i don't need a different location...
i don't need to move up in the world...

but i want to.