“You can never get enough of what you don’t need, because what you don’t need will never satisfy you.” —Katia Reinert, NAD Health Ministries Director, in her “Building Resilience to Face Life’s Challenges” workshop series at the Chesapeake Conference camp meeting (as reported in the NAD e-newsletter NewsPoints)
I’ve been running this amazing sentence around in my mind for several weeks. I don’t know why, but I had never considered this concept before! It seems so obvious; yet, as I ponder it, so profound. And it raises many questions.
To which of our needs does this apply? Physical? Social? Material? Emotional? Spiritual?
And why do we want things we don’t need? For example, why do people crave sugar if the body doesn’t need it? Or caffeine? Or cocaine? Can addictions of any type ever be satisfied?
How do we know for sure what we actually need and what we don’t? Another example: Shoes are necessary in my culture, but how many pairs do I really need? And what if we don’t “need” something (more money, more power, more approval from friends) yet we still want it?
Additionally, is the implied converse statement true (ie What you DO need will satisfy you and you will desire only the right amount)? We need physical exercise, but when we engage in it, are we always satisfied? If something doesn’t satisfy us, does that mean we don’t need it?
I don’t know the answers to many of these questions. And really, what is the point in thinking about such things? The only valid reason is if it helps us more clearly understand the human mind and why we make the choices we do.
Is there some type of disconnect between our true needs and our desires? If so, what causes that? And, more importantly, can we fix it? How do we learn to make better decisions?
Of one thing I am sure: We all need God. He created us as spiritual beings who must worship something/someone to satisfy the longings of our souls. God reaches out to each person and says, “Choose Me because I love you most and I am the only One who is able to eternally meet your needs and fulfill your desires.”
