“As human beings, we all share the same sorrows, the same hopes, the same potential. The Covid-19 pandemic has reminded us how interdependent we are: what happens to one person can soon affect many others, even on the far side of our planet.
Therefore, it is up to all of us to try to cultivate peace of mind and to think about what we can do for others, including those that we never see. It is natural to feel worry and fear at a time when so many are suffering. But only by developing calmness and clear-sightedness can we help others and, in so doing, even help ourselves. In my own life, I have often found that it is the most difficult challenges that have helped me gain strength. The current global health crisis also reminds us that what affects the human family has to be addressed by all of us. The solution to this, as to many other problems, especially concerning the environment, depends on international co-operation. Ultimately, if humanity is to thrive, we must remember that we are one. “ - The Dalai Lama
So much has come to light over these last couple of years. The largest change is in deciding what I need and what I wish for.
If you look back, with positive discerning eye, you will see that you have had so very many NEEDS…and WANTS… fulfilled. It is too easy to look negatively at today and not realize how very much your needs and wants change… specifically WANTS. As soon as one want is met... we want more. Just the way it is. So, discerning between want and need is imperative to having a positive outlook. Needs are basic human needs. Wants are the things you cannot seem to have now but want them.
Our basic needs are things like air, water, food, shelter, clothing, rest, sleep that we simply cannot live healthily or at all without. Those are physical needs. Then we need sensory things like emotional balance, being loved, that we matter, that we are good enough, etc. We have a need to master things, to succeed at something. We have a need for family, for belonging to some kind of ‘tribe’, we need to be independent, we need to feel secure and safe. We need to have some adventure and some excitement in our lives. We need to quest and to have some sense of purpose. We need acknowledgement. There are some religions that teach that wanting is suffering and attachment to things is suffering. If we take the stance that all things are impermanent, perhaps, then, we would be satisfied with what we have, knowing that all things change and then, perhaps, hope comes in.
I think part of the problem is that, as humans, we are insatiable. Our Egos are large and wanting. If our basic needs are met, then anything more is pure icing. We are such consumers that things consume us.
At some point, we need to want less and I think the restrictions and covid have started to sort that out for us, to some degree. We should be learning that we are in control of our peace of mind. We should seek things like tranquility and yes ways to make our climate healthier so we might live in better safety from it. Yes, we should have good health and good air and good family relationships and good stability. Yes, there are things to need and things to want. I think I have come to a place where it is what it is and if it gets better or worse, it is still wat it is or will be. The past matters not in my need or want, any more. As I have aged, things have changed and I find I want less and that I need more. I find that I most need more time because it takes me longer to get stuff done.
It is what it is. I am taking that to heart.
©Carol Desjarlais 16.2.22
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