Needs vs Wants

(This post is triggered by my conversation with Mr. Indian-wannabe and Mr. I-only-wear-black last night over wine and fries in an 'uncle's' pub)

I remember growing up with my basic needs fulfilled. Can't say the same about my wants though. My parents were married at the tender age of 19, so they did not have much and was struggling to make ends meet.
I had all the basics needs for school, enough food, clothes on my back and some toys to play with. School holidays would either be spent with my siblings climbing trees, 'building' makeshift 'house' using twigs cut off from tapioca plants and coconut leaves as roof or spending time at my maternal grandparents' place with the cousins. There were no holiday trips other than the occassional 6-hour drive to visit my paternal grandparents. But I was happy and spent most time reading (borrowed books either from friends or the school library as books were a luxury then) and day dreaming. I dreamt of going to the UK to study and securing a job overseas. I dreamt of travelling the world and experiencing new things. It became a strong yearning and I set my heart to make it happen.

My first trip outside of the country was to Singapore. Boy, I was so 'high' at the thought of being abroad. And so I took in the splendour of the city as much as I could in three days. That marks the beginning of my travel account. My current job took me to many cities - Houston, Los Angeles (a brief 3-hour transit spent at the airport though but hey, I was in LAX and could have possibly ran into Paris Hilton), Melbourne, London, The Hague, Amsterdam, Cape Town, Dubai, Doha and Manila all in a span of 1.5 years. And not forgetting those trips around cities in Asia courtesy of budget airlines. And when I do visit these places, I will endeavour to see and do as much as I can. Doesn't matter if I was a lone traveller or in the company of friends.

I guess now, I have some, if not most of my wants realized. I have a job that allows me to express my fashion sense to a certain limit. I have a partner who understands and cares for me. I have my family and friends as pillar of support.I have financial independence. I can buy all the books that I want.

Some initial wants were either forgotten or altered along the way. Like I wanted to do a stint of studying abroad. But that want has transitioned to working abroad instead. Perhaps a year or two in London. Or Melbourne. I wanted to pursue my MBA. Now, a professional paper seems more of a feasible option plus would fulfill my career needs.

What I need to work on now is my spiritual 'needs'.