I am lucky- very lucky. I live in a comfortable middle class neighborhood, and am blessed to have food in my cupboards and a bit of money left over at the end of each week.  I have everything I NEED.  I try never to forget this.  Having my family’s needs met is a true blessing.  That said however, nothing in this world drives me so much as a want.  My parents, my mother in particular, imparted no piece of wisdom more strongly in me than this one.

It’s good to want things.Now, I raise my children in fairly alternative circles, we recycle, put a higher value on well made goods and so can afford fewer of them, and just generally  try to consume fewer resources than the American norm.  So this particular phrase may seem an odd thing to want to pass on to my own children, yet I find it very helpful.   After food, shelter, safety and love are in our lives, are we all walking around in blissful enlightenment?  I wish that were the case, and perhaps it should be.  But in the world I observe it seems that is not.So, as my mom would say, it’s good to want things.The key is how you look at the word want.  If all I meant for my children to take away from this phrase was that they should want more stuff, it would seem patently materialistic.  But the kind of want I’m talking about here is the stuff of goals, dreams and aspirations.   In a world where intention is everything, where you draw to you what you ask the universe for, having clear and strong wants is absolutely necessary.  If the word WANT has negative connotations for you, call them dreams, desires, goals – find a word that does work for you.