It does not matter how great or terrible my day was, at the end of it I am able to rest my head on numerous fluffy pillows, with multiple blankets, in a nice heated (or air conditioned) house with a full stomach, a clean body, and above all, surrounded by people who love me. I am blessed.

It is easy to get caught up with the idea that you always need something more; more money, more space, more clothes, more of whatever you think you need more of. I am not trying to shame you, we all do this. I am going to try and ask you to take a step back every now and then and ask yourself, “Do I really need this or do I want it?”.

I started asking myself that question as a way to save money (mostly for the education I have determined I do in fact need) and it has proven itself to be effective as I rarely spend money now-a-days. This then branched out to other aspects of my life, “Do I need the second cookie or do I want it?”, “Do I need to binge watch Netflix all day or do I want to?”, etc.. As you could imagine, this has in a lot of ways made me more productive and I like to think, better. However, I know I still NEED to be better each and every day.

By better, I mean that I am aware of all of the blessings around me and what an impact they have made on my life. This is something that everyone could always get better at, none of us are perfect nor will we ever be. There are always going to be days when we feel like nothing is going our way and God hates us. I have learned through those times that they are in fact just blessings in disguise, they always have a purpose and set me up for something better down the road. Therefore, I have learned to be thankful even for the bad days.

Wants and needs may be difficult to distinguish at first but once you have your basic criteria down for what you feel you need in life, which is different for everyone besides the basics, you can determine that all other things are just simply wants. Then it is up to you to decide if that want is truly worth it or not. In my experience, there are far better things I could be doing or spending money on that I need than wasting my time and money on the things I want.

Although this is seemingly simple logic, it is easier said than done. I am by no means a minimalist and I often do indulge in the things I want. Like I said, none of us are perfect. For me, the most important part of all of this is to be more thankful for all the blessings I have and recognize them better and more often. Luckily, every time I ask the need vs. want question, I am able to accomplish that. Therefore, even if I don’t always practice it, I am still aware of it and it helps me be more grateful, that is what matters.