Eintlek, What Do You Want?

Eintlek, eintlek what do you want? At this very moment, what do you want? Ok, maybe you hungry, or you wish your next meeting would just not happen. Maybe you just want to go pee. Well, don’t hold it in, otherwise, you’ll need pampers when you hit 60.

But, besides that stuff, what is it you want for/in your life? A car (or a better one)? A good job (or a better one)? A house (or a better one)? A girlfriend (or a…never mind)? Whatever it is, it seems like when we wake up in the morning, we do so because we want something. A lot of the time it is to do with, at the very least, maintaining one’s livelihood, or at best, growing the said item. You go to school/tertiary and study (get drunk, get laid, pass out). Then you get a job (get drunk, get laid, pass out). Have a family (umm…yeah). Seemingly, every waking day of your life, there is something you are wanting to get/have/do. So I guess the question of “what do you want” is a bit redundant.  But what is still important to ask, oh brethren, is; why do you want what you want?

Some of you may be familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. It basically states that everything that encompasses a human being’s life can be categorized into 8 basic needs: biological and physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, transcendence. Worry not, I won’t test you. What I would like to bring your attention to, ladies and magents, is that beyond air, food, drink J, shelter, warmth, sex J and sleep, (which are
biological and physiological needs) you actually don’t “need” anything.

You need transport, but you don’t need a 2009 Range Rover Evoque in matt-black. You need shoes, but you don’t need Christian Louboutin red-bottoms. The point that I am making is that, all too often, we confuse our needs with our wants. Yes, one does need a life that is fulfilling beyond just mere survival. We are after all, not animals. But when one confuses what they want with what they need, strange things begin to happen. People live beyond their means because they confuse having a reputation with something that is fundamentally important to their existence. A lot of what we deem to be needs today simply boil down to how we would like to be perceived. Let me go church on you: A lot of what we deem to be needs today simply boil down to how we would like to be perceived.

Beyond the actual, tangible things, we are after a feeling. All that we amass ourselves with is in an attempt to “feel” something. Besides for what we consume, none of what we possess does jack for our insides. I can’t eat those nerd glasses that the cool kids wear. I can’t drink a TAG watch. I can’t chew those pics on Thunda.com. We have/do these things because we want them to make us feel a certain way. I am not saying that wanting to feel this way is wrong. I merely question “how” we want to feel it. When our actual, basic needs are met, then we are actually free to choose to feel what we wantto feel without it being tied to anything.

*Morpheus voice* what if I told you, I could give you a sense of belonging, a sense of accomplishment, a feeling of being loved, wanted and appreciated. Even a sense of being cool. What if I told you I could make you feel like that without you ever having to work for anything or get approval from anyone? What if I told you I could give you all this if you take the blue pill.

Take the red pill, then you will wake up every morning trying to acquire these emotions. You will work, you will suffer. You will cry, you will laugh. You will fail, you will accomplish. Your whole life will be spent in: The Pursuit of Happiness.

You choose.

Writer: Vus Ngxande        Photographer: Jeff Rikhotso