Getting What I Want (Or think I need)

So often I think I know what I want. I wish for it with all my heart. I talk about it with my friends and family. And because I’m fairly industrious, I work hard to attain my goals.

But how do I know what I truly want? How do I know what I truly need?

According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, I have the bases covered. I have my physiological and safety needs met. My love and belonging needs are pretty good too. Working on my esteem and self-actualisation is part of my lifelong journey, the same as for most people.

And it’s when I start ascending the hierarchy to these higher levels that I start to wonder and question. How can I even figure out what it is that I really need? I don’t know where I’ll be or whether I’ll even be alive in five years’ time or ten years so how can I plan for a future when I don’t know what it looks like?

The short answer is that I can’t.

As a good (and wise!) friend said to me this morning, “The only thing that I truly know is that I don’t know what’s best for me.”

That is pretty powerful. I don’t know what’s best for me since I don’t know what I will need in the future. I can create elaborate plans for my life but so often my best laid plans go awry.

And do you know what happens? Every time I’ve planned something and then it hasn’t gone to plan, something better always comes in its’ place! Which begs the question, why should I plan at all?

In the past year, I’ve learned to not plan, to go with the flow. I have learned to give it up to the Universe. For a control freak like me, this has been a big leap.

There is no way for me to know what’s coming down the track. There is no way to know where I’ll be in a year. There is no point in worrying about it. All I can do is give it up, have faith (that’s easier said than done!) and live in the present moment.

I find the more I live in the present moment – really noticing things, not just passing them by – the more grounded and connected I am. The more I trust the Universe, my needs are met in the right way, at the right time. And as those needs are met, I am grateful.