Having What You Want

Having What You Want:

Recently I read a quote on a friend's Facebook wall, it read "It's not having what you like, but liking what you have." and I interchange 'like' with 'want.'

I used to feel a lot of conflict with quotes like this one, because there are some things that I want, and in the past I would feel guilty for wanting them.

However I don't argue with the statement "liking what you have." I love the things that I have!

But I am concerned with the statement "not having what you like." I have seen a lot of people live in self inflicted poverty over it. I think it goes hand in hand with the view that riches are a barrier to Eternal Life, in contrast to the view that riches could be, but don't have to be, a barrier.

With that said, I don't think that anyone would hesitate to say that their are some things in life that a person might want that could be potentially harmful to them. In these cases, I would venture, their wants are based on an illusion of good, and if fully understood, would no longer be wants. For example:

A baby might see a brightly colored yellow and black bug that we know to be a Bee, and the baby might want to touch it. At this point, the baby is assuming that it is living in a reality where Bee's don't sting, but through experience it would quickly learn the truth. At this point, I wouldn't expect a baby to want the yellow and black bug any longer.

In contrast, if a baby sees a favorite toy on the other side of the room, a toy that the baby knows it can trust and has several positive experiences with in the past, I say, go have that thing that you want! The baby would then crawl across the room and be rewarded with yet another great experience with the toy.

So in summary, and in my opinion, having what one wants is actually a good thing and should be sought after as long as the want is rooted firmly in reality.