Needs versus Wants

There is an old Garth Brook’s song, that I want to start out with on this article. I am going to post the pertinent part of the lyric as it is important.

“Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers

Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs

That just because he may not answer doesn't mean he don't care

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered

Some of God's greatest gifts are all too often unanswered...

Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers”

-Garth Brooks

There is a lot of confusion in our world that we can just “pray” or “manifest” our wants into existence. If you do a search online, you will find numerous sites (shams) exhorting you to spend money and they will teach you to manifest what you want. They will even say things like “God wants you to be happy.” “God wants you to have nice things.” If you go out on Amazon, you will be inundated with books on Manifesting and the Law of Attraction. It is all rubbish. The only one that benefits from these are the authors.

Each and every one of us is born on this earth with what some call a soul contract that we have made about the lessons we are going to learn while we are in earthly form. Every one of us has a different set of lessons to learn. That doesn’t mean some of us might not have similar lessons, but it is different for each of us.

Part of the agreement is that God/Divine/Allah (whatever name you choose to identify with the higher being) will provide the NEEDS for those lessons to be learned. Here’s where it gets sticky. We are also born with ego (which is necessary as a baby for survival), but it is something that must be shed. Your ego will give you WANTS which are not part of your soul contract and not part of Divine Will and not NEEDS. But that ego is a little bugger and will make you miserable with jealousy, deception, desire, lust, wants, etc. and it will fool you into thinking those things are NEEDS when they are WANTS. Wants are not promised or guaranteed (and usually not positive anyway). Your NEEDS will always be met.

There are three spiritual tenets that are taught across the board in all religions, and they all boil down to:

1. Release Ego (which WANTS are a big part of). I wrote about this more extensively in another article which I will reference below.

2. Surrender Will (which means accepting that the Divine Will supersedes Free Will). Free Will is another fallacy strengthened by Ego. Some religious organizations have twisted this concept by stating that you need to give up will to the elders of the community. No, it means you give up Free Will and accept the Will of the Divine as outlined in the master plan.

3. Embrace Faith. Which means you trust that things are happening the way they are supposed to. And have faith and trust in the process.

And now, you are thinking, “okay, Julie, how do I do this?”

The most important thing is gratitude, humility and recognition

Every morning I pray (I choose prayer, some choose meditation) and I ask for guidance to keep my ego in check, knowledge to recognize a want from a need, and gratitude for receiving the resources I require to get my NEEDS met.

Not everyone prays. I choose that avenue. Meditation is fine. Just open up the channel to the Divine.

And always remember:

UNTIL YOU RECOGNIZE THE HAND OF THE DIVINE IN EVERYTHING AND ARE GRATEFUL FOR IT, YOU WILL BE CAUGHT UP IN EGO WHICH WILL PREVENT YOUR LESSONS FROM BEING LEARNED AND ULTIMATELY ASCENSION TO BE WITH THE DIVINE.

There are people who will read this and lash out at me, and there will be people with whom this article will resonate deeply. I am not open to debate because most spiritual debate is ego based, and this article is meant to plant seeds. All knowledge comes from a higher place.

If you like this article, please consider tipping (below) or even becoming a patron. My books can be found on my website www.sacredsloth.net or online at Amazon and Barnes and Nobles under the name of Julie O’Hara Thank you very much and blessings on your journey.