Desperate

I do not think I have ever been a desperate for food as a teacher was. I still remember him saying it even though it was like 40 years ago. His car broke down in the country and he was waiting for a repair person. In a matter of the hours he was waiting, he started eating the upholstery or his car.

The most desperate I remember having been for food was one time I had been without if for several days and toothpaste was at hand so I ate that.

Food has never been a real problem for me. For some it is. Going without it is a big deal. Though what I have found is I ever want it more than when I do not have it.

I have been thinking about that because I have been thinking of desperation. I do find the more desperate I am the more I go after what I want. For me right now it is easy to not be desperate. I guess it is because of the affluence of the society I am in and the ease with which most things are available.

I guess perception has a lot to do with it. In some places people walk miles for water. Water is a need and people go to great lengths to get it. Here I turn on a tap and there it is. If work is being done on the pipes and I am advised it will be unavailable for 30 minutes or an hour I make sure I have a ready supply for boiling a cup of coffee or the like.

There are other things I get desperate for. Most of them though are things I require to complete a job and the truth is if the job could no longer be done, I would be able to live and go on.

I guess for me it is all about how much I want something. There is nothing like desperation to focus the mind. Although it may not be couched in those terms, I see lots of folks go above and beyond in a desperate attempt to be the best in their field or the best they can be in their field.

To me it is good, but it can be floored. So often it seems what is sought is just a passing thing. There can be huge benefits to the one involved, but it passes. It is like my time comes and goes. My desperation is temporary. The benefits last at best my lifetime on this planet.

I may get sponsorship and make a mint. I may (hopefully) set myself up for life.

Yet to me it is the long-term investment of what I aspire to now that counts. It is important to make the most of what I have. Yet if it only lasts for my period on this planet I question the long-term value to me.