Is there another way?

Much of our childhood is spent learning to temper our wants and desires.

 Childhood is learning self-control and self-control is what allows us to mature.
As we develop we recognize that we must refine our thoughts, wants, desires, feelings to get the best results.

We observe as we age that we really do not know what is best, we just know what we want.


However,
somewhere along the way, we determine that we are full grown and cross over into being led by our wants. We form a life of tempered indulgence, mildly entitled.

"This feels good! This must be what adulting feels like."

We tell ourselves that we have worked hard and earned the right to do this or buy that or go there or act out. We convince ourselves that reality lines up with what we want, and what we want lines up with reality. 

We spend most of our adult lives, personally, relationally, professionally driven by our yearnings. They become our lense and our tapestry - hung prominently on our walls.

We practice indulgence until it is a habit and forget what self-restraint is.  Self-absorption dines at our tables, waste fills our corners, time is frittered away on glitter and glam, tanned to perfection on soft beach sand.

I want it. I get it.
I desire it. I deserve it.

What would happen if we never crossed over into indulging our WANTS? What if we remained in the knowledge that what we desire is not always best?

What would the results be if we lived governed by a code outside of our own satisfaction?

What if our wants were curbed daily? What if our consumption fell prey to contribution and our indulgence stepped aside to make way for intention?

What if values, impact, the needs of the world determined our choices and behaviors? What if we had a purpose and lived for the greater good?

How would our lives be different? How would the world be different?