AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
There is a vast difference between need and want. Humans need food, clothing, shelter, and love—fundamental prerequisites for existence. These are basic needs. However, there is a fundamental difference.
"I need food is a need but I need it from a specific place is a want,"
"I need clothes is a need," I need clothes from this showroom is a want."
"I require an apartment is a need but I need it in such and such locality is a want."
"I need a car is a need. That must be X, Y, or Zee is a want."
"Then the line between need and want becomes blurred."
Compare ourselves with more than 90% of the people in this world who do not have money to buy non-essentials. "Aren't we lucky? Are we not supposed to be grateful to the Creator?"
"Similarly, while the need to be loved is fundamental, the desire to be loved by a specific person is a want."
These specific preferences — “such and such”—represent wants, while the basics remain needs.
More than 70% of people in the world do not have even their fundamental needs met. Many of the remaining individuals have enough but still "want more." This desire for more is not inherently wrong. However, the core issue is the lack of an "attitude of gratitude." People often fail to appreciate what they have, even when life has given them more than they ever expected. Instead of being thankful, they live in a state of dissatisfaction.
Some may think, "I'll only be happy if I own a luxury car," or "I'll be happy only if I get an apartment in that particular area," or "I'll be happy only if I marry that specific person." or "Only if I get that job, only if I get promoted, or only if I receive a double raise, then I’ll be happy." This endless cycle of "only if" thinking only leads to misery.
Happiness does not necessarily come from acquiring new external things. In reality, most people already have more than enough to sustain life. The dangerous thing we do is comparing with peers, neighbours, friends and relatives who seem to have more than what we have. We don’t know the insecurities they are facing!
What is needed is the ability to count one's blessings, to be content with what one already has, and to express gratitude to the Creator for life’s blessings. Aspiring for more is natural, but it should be paired with being happy in the "here and now."
A profound "thank you" in the here and now for all the favours received from the world & its Creator fosters an attitude of gratitude; this in turn, brings more blessings than one could have ever dreamed of.
As the saying goes, the man who complained of having no shoes stopped his wailing when he saw someone without legs. In truth, many of us are fortunate.
Embracing gratitude will bring not only enough but often much more than anticipated. Saying a sincere "thank you" every time you receive a favour from anyone can give more opportunities for Existence to give you most and more...
"Thank you very much, in gratitude…!!"