“You can’t always get what you want. But if you try sometime, you might find; you get what you need.”
– Lyric from “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, circa 1968
There is a great story in our family about the time when Kate, the oldest of The Three, was about two years old and was grocery shopping with my sister back in my hometown. Kate, it seems, “needed” chips. My sis reminder her, “Kate, you might want chips, but you really don’t need chips.”
Kate looked at her as if my sister had completely lost her mind, took a very deep breath and announced to everyone in the Hy-Vee store, at the top of her lungs, “I NEED chips!”
It’s kind of cute when a two-year-old does it. Less so when we do.
How often do we confuse wants and needs? The needs are pretty simple really, and difference makers focus on them.
John says
I think that sentiment has relevance in all elements of our society today. If you listen to mass media – you and I “need” a lot of things. But if we take the time to examine our needs, somehow – inherently maybe – we “know” the difference between what we need and what we want. Not too different from our sense of “knowing” between right from wrong. The trick of course is – having the courage and fortitude to make those hard decisions. BTW – I NEED my chips … and ice cream too! 🙂