Why do we want what we cann't have?

Question

and how do we overcome our wantings?

Answer 1

When you have something you don't think about it and when you don't have it, it occupies your mind and you're not taking it for granted.

Answer 2

The simple answer is that you can not desire what you already have. If you have something you can only want to have it with you forever. Everyone only wants what they think is good. If you think that pleasure is the greatest good, you will be unhappy if you are not pleased enough. If you think that human virtue is the highest good, you will not rest until you are just, temperate, courageous, and wise. In any event, you will never stop desiring things because you will always need something. Examining and accepting what you have and who you want to become can help with most things. If we think that life is like a hotel we are likely to complain that the service is very bad. If we think of life as a prison, we will sometimes be happy that things are not worse.

Answer 3

Humans have developed a need to exceed. This need means that everything we do is, to a degree, dictated by the will to get ahead of life and provide ourselves and those nearest to us with the best experience possible. These wants, however, can sometimes control us if we can't control them. We need to find a point where we can be satisfied with ourselves and what we have, and let go of the natural desire to have more.

Answer 4

We want things we can have too. We want more of the things we already have. We'll want things tomorrow that we did not want today. Eventually, the human condition of desire will focus on something that we cannot have by process of elimination. The fact that something is off-limits, unavailable or taboo often has nothing to do with wanting it. To overcome it, count your blessings to help ignore those things.

Answer 5

We are covetous and greedy from birth because there is sin (a principle of evil) operating within our bodies and minds. We can overcome these evil tendencies by cultivating self-control or temperance with the help of God's holy spirit and cleansing word. If we let covetousness or greed rule our lives, we will not enjoy human fulfillment.

Answer 6

Because we are terribly vain, all of us, even if we don't recognize it. King Solomon used to say, "All is vanity and chasing the wind". Actually we only need a daily suply of food, clothes to be warm, a place to live and products for personal hygiene. But look around and see what we've got! It's incredible the amount of unnecessary things. As long as we are humans and live on this earth, we are going to be like that.

Answer 7

Society......

Society seems to dictate to us what weneed, who we need, how we need to look etc.
Wants can be good because they give us things to work toward but today many people want things but have no idea how to work at them... everything has to be the NOW
If you actually take time to work at getting something you want.... the majority of us don't want it anymore once we can afford it because society tells us we need something newer or better.
As long as i have what I need I'll always have more than someone else in this world. There are things that I want, there always will be but at this time in my life I realize I do have everything I need - no matter what society says.

Answer 8

There are some people out there who are used to rejection and unwantedness that when they desire for something within their reach, it just doesn't feel as wanted as their desire wanted them to believe. Then there are people who can never be content with what they have, and even with the wildest dreams being fulfilled, they still believe that something greater is out there, and that they want it for themselves.

If you're grateful for what you have right now, you wouldn't be focused on what you want at the moment.

Answer 9

We want things that provide us with enjoyment or pleasure. We also want things that we *think* will provide us with that enjoyment or happiness.

1. Change what you want. It doesn't make any sense to want things that you cannot have.

2. Stop wanting. Finding something else to think about other than what you want.

3. Stop making yourself want those things. Thinking about what you want is a sure way to experience suffering in the moment.

Answer 10

Get rid of the idea that you are an individual entity that is separate from the natural universe, drop all thinking outside of the natural functioning and survival of the body and there are no wants.

Answer 11

We want what we can't have because we are searching outside. When we start looking inside our hearts, we will not need to want things from the outside, because you will be overwhelmed by all the happiness you find within yourself.