Need versus want

How do we separate need from want? It may not be as obvious as we might think. We can also frame the question as choice versus no choice. 

We need to sleep, eat and drink water to survive but after that it becomes a descending order of priority to figure out. 

"I need to be rich" sounds more like a type of pathology than a need and we can imagine a whole host of other assertions that should make us reflect. The reason this is important is that need often gets us to a place of balance and harmony whereas want doesn't always improve our situation. 

Need versus want blurs itself in our lives often impacted by what society considers imperatives. In the past we might fret about why we aren't yet married only to discover years later that we weren't suited for it. 

A determined need became a want which ended up ultimately rejected. 

It's important to make a distinction between the essential and the elective because life comes with inherent risks. Every decision we make has consequences which is why are better off judiciously considering what outcomes we truly cannot live without versus what we think we cannot live without. 

Over time, life will teach us the distinction when we aren't sure and not always kindly.