If One Gives Way to All One’s Desires-Daily Meditation-7.3
Today’s quotation:
If one gives way to all one’s desires or panders to them, there will be no inner struggle in that person, no friction, no fire. But if, for the sake of attaining a definite aim, one struggles with desires that hinder him or her, that person will then create a fire that will gradually transform his or her inner world into a single whole.-
P.D. Ouspensky
Today’s Meditation:
Our desires can be beautiful guides that can help us learn more about and experience more of this life we’re living. Our desires can help us to explore places and things that we wouldn’t have if we didn’t have passions, and they can help us to take risks that we might otherwise avoid. But we must remember that not all of our desires are healthy, and the fulfillment of many of them will not lead to positive results. The fulfillment of many desires will lead to damage and pain, so we must be cautious to reflect on our wants and subdue those that harm us and others.
Very often, when I’m running, I want to quit. But I don’t stop, and the feeling I get from finishing the run is very positive. Sometimes when I’m not hungry, I feel a desire to eat. I do my best not to do so because then I’m practicing gluttony and eating much more than I need to eat to survive in this body. There have been times when I’ve wanted to be around people who are very damaging to me, and learning how to quell that desire was one of the best lessons I’ve ever known. Many people have ruined relationships because they’ve given in to sexual desires and, in doing so, have destroyed trust.
What effects will the fulfillment of a particular desire have? Fulfilling a desire to get drunk can have disastrous effects financially, spiritually, and in many other ways. I remember how we felt when our father decided to get just one drink and ended up not coming home all weekend, spending his entire paycheck. He would have called it a desire for one little sip, but the effects were incredibly negative for the rest of his family.
Some desires are wonderful, and they help us to grow and become better people when we work to fulfill them. Others, though, aren’t so great, and it’s up to us to figure out which are which and which ones we will spend time and energy trying to fulfill. Healthy desires can lead to beautiful results, while those that aren’t healthy can bring us outcomes that we’d be better off not experiencing. The desire itself is rarely the problem–it’s how we see it and what we do about it.
Questions to consider:
Which kinds of desires tend to be the least healthy? Why do they so often seem to be so attractive to us?
How can we determine which desires are the most worthy of trying to fulfill?
Is it a disaster if all our desires aren’t fulfilled, or is it simply the natural order?
For further thought:
Moderate desires constitute a character fitted to acquire all the good the world can yield. Those with this character are prepared, in whatever situation they are in, to be content and have learned the science of being happy.-Timothy Dwight
