Calm down your life has a right over you part 2

3)     Needs vs wants

One of the things that make our lives unsteady is needs and wants. In our lives we have needs, we need to eat, drink, dress, have a roof over our heads have a decent education etc., these are things we can’t do without and depend on. Then comes things in life that we like and desire but can live without, these are called wants and these we can easily tell. Buying things after things such phones, dresses, shoes etc., anything that fits into this category of ‘I can live without it but I want it’ is a want. However, in our world wants are needs, there is no longer this distinction between the two, we have mixed them up so much that we actually have to think which is the want and which is the need.

Today, everything is a need even if we really don’t want it, we go shopping and we see something we like and want to take even if we don’t need it, your kids moan for toys and games they already have and say ‘But I want it’. People cry and argue for their wants more than their needs, people can skip breakfast but have a heart attack when they leave their phone, kids skip meals to play video games and be on social media. This trend leads to ungratefulness, people become constantly unthankful because they forget the blessings around them as they constantly cry over their wants. They get upset and envious when they see others have their wants and the feelings of inferiority and low self-esteem build within us and we believe that we are missing something. However, if we actually sit down ask ourselves, ‘Do I actually need’ and most of the time we don’t need what we are crying over but this helps us list and actually find out how many things in our lives are wants.

Wants makes us take needs as a right, we believe it’s our right to food, water, shelter, good health but it’s not. If they are rights then everyone who doesn’t have these would but they don’t, rather it’s for us to be thankful and contemplate on our blessings and for them to be thankful in their situation.

That may sound weird, I understand me but how can someone who already is down in the dumps be thankful for their misfortune and the answer is simple; no human can identify themselves as the worst person in the world. The more we look at others when we have a misfortune, we realize how lucky we are and when that person does the same the same thing occurs and it goes on and on. That is why the prophet said:

“Look at those who are beneath you and do not look at those who are above you, for it is more suitable that you should not consider as less the blessing of Allah.”     

This tells us that if we stare and glare at those richer than us, as humans we will feel like we should have something similar but if you look at those unfortunate than us then we will feel for them and be more grateful for what we have. This will annihilate our want desire as we realize there are people who don’t have the needs to live their lives and help us distinguish between what we really need and what we want.