Desire is a funny thing. It can range from a slight want to an all consuming obsession.

But it’s always in our head. And our minds can play tricks on us.

Think about a time when you’ve wanted something so bad and finally got it. It wasn’t exactly what you thought it’d be was it?

For example, I really wanted another dog. I mean really wanted one. The desire almost took on a life of its own- keeping me awake at night, scrolling through photos of shelter dogs in need. Eventually, I got another dog. But I forgot about the totality of what this means. Housebreaking, chewing, barking. Sure, it’s great having another dog, but there are drawbacks to it, as well.

There always are. For everything you gain, you lose something else. And we tend to forget this when consumed by desire. We forget to look at the totality of the picture and how our want fits into that.

I think it’s important to remind ourselves of this whenever we begin to feeling the aching of desire. We can never see the whole picture but we can do our best to look at our wants through a larger lens.

Most importantly, we should be grateful for what we already have and remember that what we have right now, is all we really need.