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Our Needs Are Not Natural
They’re a symptom of what’s going on inside.
What do I mean by saying needs are not natural? At its core, it means that in our natural state we don’t need anything, other than the obvious like food, water and shelter. We are fine, complete and okay inside in our natural state.
Your reaction might be, “Sure, we don’t need anything other than food and shelter, but come on. What kind of life is that? I need to hang on the couch with my chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and watch my Netflix shows. And drink my Grey Goose dirty martinis. And go to Cabo San Lucas twice a year. And watch college football in the fall. I’d be bored to death if my life was just about surviving.”
The point is that a life lived without lots of needs is head and shoulders more satisfying and joyful than the life of Netflix, martinis and football. How so?
Why do we have needs?
Before getting to that, let’s ask a basic question: What is the origin of our needs? Most people would go straight to something like, “I don’t know. I really like chocolate cake. And sushi. And IPA’s. And playing Clash of Clans. I just like having that stuff in my life. Does there have to be some big reason I’m into those things? Or an origin story?”
