February 2009 - WANT: Want and Now

You some times hear the phrase "live in the now". Does that go for "wants" as well?
Not everyone has an immediate need to get they want right NOW. However, from the people I have met, it would appear that most do.

The American (the United States) culture promotes the "have it now" concept with quick credit, get it now, pay later. This seems to have brought us all to this particular point in a global economic meltdown. It of course was not solely brought on by the "want it now" desire, but it would appear that this desire was the spark that was later fed by fuels of greed, dishonesty, lack of trustworthiness and the lack caring for what would happen next.

I recently posted a TED Talk by Barry Schwartz, where he talks about the real crisis.

Does this mean that wanting things NOW is bad? Probably not. As with most things, there are extremes. The old story of having a power and using it for good rather than evil. What is bad is divorcing ourselves of the wisdom we all hold, but some times ignore for the gains of now.

Amazing things happen when we want, but only when tempered with the knowledge of what is right.

History has been changed because of wanting now.
Lives have been saved because of wanting now.
Good has prevail over evil because of wanting now.

Wanting now is not evil, but how it is achieved can be.

Today is a dark day. Story after story arises in the news about greed, fraud, corruption and crime. People are losing their confidence not in the economy, the market nor their abilities, but rather they are losing their confidence in each other.

Much of this seems to have been brought on by the greed fueled want it now mentality.

Hopefully, we can once again trust each other. Perhaps then confidence will return.

We need to "want" to repair this. If we want it now, we can do anything.