Shopping. I hate going to the grocery store at the best of times, but I know things go much better when I have a list. I mean it does me no good to go to the store to buy juice and come home with three bags full of groceries and no juice. I have a list so I don't need to think, "Do I need to buy this lemon or not?" I know whether I need it or not.
Also I am usually the same way when I go out shopping for clothes or items from the chemists. Yes I impulse buy sometimes but thankfully not often. What is life without a little whimsy. However, usually when I go out to buy toothpaste, I come home with just the toothpaste. I also only buy those things that I can truly afford. I know the value of a dollar and the value of good budgeting. I know the difference between what I need, what I want, and what I dream about.
In terms of needs, there are certain things that every human needs. Although many of us get too much of it, we all need food. We can only go 72 hours or so without water. We need to breathe oxygen every four minutes. Without it we die. We need shelter from the elements. These are the actual necessities of life. Sadly, not even chocolate makes the list. Society and modesty mean that we need to have at least one set of clothes. Other things might be needed as society demands: television, telephone, computer, car, etc. These things are all great to have and we probably couldn't imagine life in the 21st century without our iPhone, but these are not necessary to life. Then there are the extravagances that those who can afford them treat themselves with such as yachts, or private jets.
So we have our needs, what society requires, and our extravagances. But I think there is one major thing that is not on our necessities of life list. Love must be on that list. While Dean Martin might have gone to far when he sang, "You're nobody until somebody loves you,", love does indeed shape us. Because I am loved, I will act a certain way towards others. If I have been taught to fear the stranger and distrust the others, then chances are I won't be loving. Dionne Warwick sang, "What the World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love". Let us love shine so that others might not live in darkness. Let us share love, because the world needs it now. Blessings.
