Needs and Wants

I have been thinking (and laughing a little) about how much we rely on other people. I don't think I necessarily mean how we rely on them in big ways - like how we once relied on our parents when we were infants, but more in simple, every day ways that we as adults rely on other adults.

Throughout the day I hear people running back to an office "What did I just say?" or "What was the last name on that file again?" The responder laughs, offers the answer and life goes on. I love watching couples have a conversation together with someone else. You'll find them looking at each other in agreement (or disagreement) and every so often you'll hear one seek affirmation from the other. They give an answer, turn to their partner and ask, "right, honey?"

I wonder that we really need each other in this way. I mean, if we thought long enough, we could remember the last name, what we had said minutes previous, and we can certainly answer for ourselves - we do so often. A big part of me loves that while we can do these things alone, we chose to include another.

In the last couple of weeks I've thought a lot about 'need' versus 'want'. I never thought myself a needy person, and on occasion I worry that I have become just that. Really though, it's not (in this case) that I need something, it's just that I want it, and I realize that my life is better with certain people in it than without. While I do not NEED them, I want them and I wouldn't have it any other way.

It's just a small thought for the day, but a meaningful one. Think about all the times we look to another to help us think, remember, or just purely to include them in our life. It's neat, not needy.

It helps me remember that while our culture is so calloused and closed off, we still want to include, and be included in the lives of others.