Sometimes, a person that grows up without enough food, clothing, housing and other necessities might find that they “hunger” for the things they did not have growing up.  They may even feel an urgency to make up for their impoverished childhood and acquire many more things than what they need.

It could also be greed, jealousy, or any number of other things that cause people to want to own many, many things.  But whatever the reason is, I think that there is a flaw in thinking that more things will make a person satisfied.  In fact, I believe the opposite is true.  The more one has, the more one wants to own.

I see this everyday with the students I have observed while working in schools.  Kids “want” the latest phone and the coolest shoes, (as many pairs as possible).  They say that they “need” these things and really DO think that they need them.  They want the best and the most that they can have of something.  But, rarely, if ever, are they satisfied.  They do not stop wanting more. Instead, they are perpetually in a state of want.

With adults, it’s the house, the car(s), the phones, and etc., only bigger and more expensive things are “needed.”  To me, it seems to be a burden, always feeling the need to have, to never have “enough.”

I find as I get older, the less I want and the more I want to purge many of the things I have.  It is a blessing to feel this way.  I have way more than what I need and much less of what I have had in the past. The most interesting thing about what I have experienced is the relief I feel every time I get rid of something.  Each time I let a thing go, I also lose the responsibility of caring for that thing.  It gives me more time and energy to spend with the people I love.  And there is never too much of that.