The reason most of us neglect our legitimate needs is that we are too busy pursuing our illegitimate wants. We ignore our legitimate needs because we erroneously believe that if we get enough of our illegitimate wants, it won’t matter that we are not taking care of our legitimate needs. This is a fallacy of monumental proportions, because you never can get enough of what you don’t really need.
That’s right. You never can get enough of what you don’t really need.
Fulfillment comes not from having more and more of everything forever into oblivion. Fulfillment comes from having what you need. The whole world is chasing illegitimate wants with reckless abandon. We use all of our time, effort, and energy in the pursuit of our illegitimate wants, hypnotized by the lie that our illegitimate wants are the key to our happiness.
At the same time, the gentle voice within us is constantly calling out to us, trying to encourage us not to ignore the wisdom we already possess.
We must learn to move beyond our superficial wants and begin to discover our deepest desires.
The difference between our wants and our deepest desires is meaning. A desire is a want with meaning. Our deepest desires are things we want because we know they will help us become the-best-version-of-ourselves.
The problem is, we are all so busy wanting that we have forgotten why we want whatever it is we want. We have disconnected our wants from our reason for wanting them.
Matthew Kelly
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