"Happiness is getting what you need not what you want"

Currently I am going through some training using "Choice Theory and Reality Therapy". It is interesting to understand that we create our own conflict and unhappiness in our lives. For example, we chase after ideals that we do not want and go after something with all our heart just to find out we do not really need it. So many people would have saved a trip to see a shrink or a doctor if only they embrace the concept of knowing what they really need in life.

Numerous people battled their way to the best university in the world and was not being educated on the inside their hearts. People who married out of free will and choice ended up in divorces that scarred their lives. Young couples who longed to have children and once they have some of their own, they find little time or effort to get connected with them. Today men are not satisfied with having a job but they wanted power that will keep them hungry for life. What we started with just wanting to meet our needs ended up in feeding our endless appetite of wanting more. It is a bottomless pit and that also bring forth conflict in our lives. We try to justify that it is the world economy, standard that dictates our lives. The truth is we do have options and choices how we want to live our lives.

Recently I visited Pulau Ubin one of the dying village (Kampong) in Singapore that leans on its basic necessities of life (sounds like the Bear's song...). The island sits opposite it's sister island Singapore a buzzing and dazzling city with its robust economy and wealth. Nevertheless I was bought back to feel the wonder of simplicity and what life could and can be. The coconut tree that dropped its fruit only because it was hassled by the wind. The wild durians filled the forest with its fragrances. The dusty road brought us into a trail of spices and mystery of life. Away from the tussle of power and do away with technology, life can be simple. Life can be strong and meaningful. There are tribes in the Amazon are without any technological support but live on the instinct of survival, well they are still around till today. Probably those isolated individuals have lesser to worry or think about as life is simple.

I am thinking a lot about this theme "Short Circuit Life". We short circuited our lives by piling up too many things, unrealistic objectives and materialistic "wants" in our life. These unnecessary things heaped into tensions that causes conflict in the values we use to cherished. Than the come will be make some compromise that hopefully things will fit in. But unfortunately "the hard disc is too full", something have to give way. And most of the time our "wants" take centre stage than our real needs, that will result in a superficial fulfilment that last for a while longer. The short circuit comes when the foundation of thoughts or values starts to crumbled, than after the emotional avalanche takes place. That will be the beginning of the full impact of a short circuit life.

Indeed going back to normalcy is going back to simplicity. Asking basic questions what we want rather than what do people want from me? What do we really need rather than what is the surrounding telling me? What will make me happy in the long run verses what will make me happy now?

To know what I need will be a guiding compass or the "True North" of my life.

What is yours?