Who you are and what you accomplish can best be summarized by the answers to four questions:
What do you want in your life?
What do you need in your life?
What do you value in your life?
What will you do with your life?
Your answers will define you. They will shape your life, regardless of where you are in that journey.
What do you want in your life?
Everyone has goals and desires. Some of us want things that are extravagant. Others have simpler objectives. Many times we think about material things, such as cars, clothes and houses, but the things we want also can include living in comfort, success in careers and activities, solid relationships and even lack of stress.
It often comes down to priorities, which is where the second question becomes important.
What do you need in your life?
Happiness isn’t always about getting what we want. Often it’s about distinguishing between those wants and which of them we really need. Some people have trouble seeing the difference because their wants are so strong. There is nothing wrong with wanting things. There is nothing wrong with enjoying material things, except when you can’t afford them or when your wants undermine or get in the way of what you need and how you can help others.
If you look at each of those desires realistically and objectively, how many do you really need?
To know the answer to that, consider the third question.
What do you value in your life?
When your life is near its end, what will have mattered most? If we put our wants ahead of our needs, we fail to take into account their real value.
So often the defining factor in life is in our relationships. It’s the things we do for others. It’s the time we give to those closest to us. It’s how we treat and care for others in the world. It’s family, it’s friends and it’s faith. Those are the things that can determine which of our wants and even our needs are most valuable in our life.
The answers to those first three questions should make it obvious how to answer the fourth and final one.
What will you do with your life? Most times it’s a question only you can answer. Many times it’s a direction you can set.
Four simple questions. If you are honest with yourself, then the things you really should want, need and value will determine what you do. At the same time, what you do will provide all that you want, need and value.
You not only will find happiness, but so will those around you.
If only it could be that simple. The truth is, it is.
Harry - thank you for finding the words to describe what I have felt for as long as I can remember.
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