Happy As a Clam

"You may not have everything you want, but you do get what you need."  the I Ching, Hexagram 48

What do amoebas need? They only need to eat. What do they eat? Amoebas eat algae, bacteria and protozoa.  What do protozoa need?  They only need to stay away from amoebas.

I can't really think of anything I need other than the daily things that sustain life and solutions to the usual "first world problems."  Food--I eat two to three times a day with snacks in between. How many bananas can you eat before you turn into a monkey? (devolution). Clothing--I don't like to shop for clothes and am quite happy with my current wardrobe. Shelter--I have a roof over my head that keeps me warm and dry .I'm relatively healthy. I saw one of my doctors this morning and he said "All things considered,  you are doing remarkable well". I'm relatively happy (how would I know how happy the next person is?). I'm relatively safe.  I am in my fortieth year of marriage with my lifetime soulmate (there was a life before her, I just don't remember that much about it). I have a son and daughter-in-law who I dearly love. They are healthy and happy too. I have a granddaughter who continually lights up my world and provides me with an endless stream of delights. She lives much too far away, but I have a good car, good roads and there's an airport nearby. I am surrounded by family and friends who love and support me. I have a job I enjoy. I don't really need anything.

But there are some things I want. If nothing else, my birthday, anniversary and Christmas come around quite often and people want to buy me things.

I have a good camera and several lenses I enjoy using, but there is some more camera equipment I would like to have. There's actually no end to camera equipment. So I can be happy with what I have (If I say that three times really fast I can believe it).

I have a Roland synthesizer that provides me with hours and hours of enjoyment, but I have my eye on another  synthesizer to compliment this one. If I never get it, I'm quite happy with my Roland.

There's a sports car I've been eyeing for several years.  It really gets my motors running, so to speak. I look at it every time I get my very reasonable and totally practical family sedan serviced.  But I'll never buy it. The insurance alone would be more than any car payment I've ever had.  But that SUV I've been looking at would be really nice to have.

There are books I want to buy. Truth is. I don't know what they are as I have several I have not read yet. But when I get those read I'll want another one. So is reading a need or a want? It's hard for me to imagine that I need words any less than the amoeba needs protozoa. But it's a want and not a need.

Can you imagine how low on the food chain you are if you get eaten by a one-celled organism?  Well you could be algae. Protozoa eat it.  What does algae eat? Not very much.

So is there anything I really want? Yes there is.  I want more emotional intelligence. I feel that I have at least at Master of Emotional Intelligence.  But I want a PhD of Emotional Intelligence.  I want to act and react in ways that far exceed my current ability.  I want to walk the world--head up, hope in my heart, expecting nothing but the best in each and every situation.I want to expect only good outcomes. Walking, if not with wild abandon, at least with confidence and great expectations.  I want to wait until I actually encounter a dragon to try to slay the dragon.

Is there anything else I want?  I want to be a better friend. I feel that I am a good friend to a few, but I could be a better friend. I want my friends to know that I have their back, that I am there for them in every way  possible.  And I want more friends. Not so much that I have more friends, but that more people have a friend in me.

I want to see more of America.  They tell me that there's an entire world to explore, but I'm really mostly interested in exploring more of my own country.  I want to see more of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.  I want to see more of Washington, Oregon and California. I want to see New England in the fall. I want to eat lobster in Maine. I want to visit the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and eat some more cheesecake while I'm there. I want to see Yellowstone and Niagara Falls.  I want to see Alaska. I want to see some of Canada. But besides home, if I never see any of it, I can be quite happy.

During a time of profound and prolonged unhappiness, I wanted to die and come back as an amoeba. No joke. Can you imagine how simple that life would be? I would just float around in a pond all day. When  protozoa come near me, my pseudopod surrounds it and absorbs it.  That's it. That's all I ever have to do. Food, clothing, shelter all in one motion.

Although it's perfectly fine that we  want more than amoeba need, we could all do with so much less. Millions in the world are dying for just food, clothing and shelter. But isn't it reasonable to assume that if these people's basic needs were met, they would want more?

If you read about human nature and our unquenchable desire for having what we don't have, you read about the brain's insatiable desire for pleasure.  Why do people risk their marriages, their families, their reputations, their friends, their jobs, their freedom for sex and drugs?  Because it feels so damned good! We will do about anything to feel more pleasure. Have you ever wondered  if an amoeba finds pleasure in eating? Probably not. An amoeba has no brain so it is incapable of feeling pleasure. So who's better off the amoeba who wants nothing or the person who always wants what he can't have? Are you better off to want nothing or to never be satisfied with anything?

"You may not have everything you want, but you get what you need,"  You don't feel like you have everything you need? Just stay in one place long enough and it will float by.