Comments on: No Impact Man Chap 4: Wanting Is Not Getting

By: Kati

Kati — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:42:07 +0000

Hi Beth, I’m catching up on old posts right now. This post was beautiful, and it reminded me of two things:
1) Last summer I lived in a rural community while on practicum for six weeks. I attempted to persuade my two roommates to reuse their shopping bags to create less waste. Both were amenable to the idea, but one roommate refused to reuse plastic grocery bags, and always acted extraordinarily embarrassed when I did. To her, it was like putting our groceries in garbage. So she went out and bought reusable sacks made out of plastic. They were sleek and shiny and had great words printed on them like “eco-friendly”, and she had a great time showing off how green she was by remembering to use them a couple of time. She really just wanted to look the part. In her eyes, I did not look the part. In my eyes, she did not.
2) A story from Buddha. A man came to the Buddha and said, “I have a problem.” The Buddha said, “No, actually you have 93 problems. Everyone has 93 problems, all the time. When you solve one problem, another will pop up in it’s place so that everyone always has 93 problems. But your real problem is the 94th problem, and that is that you want to have no problems.”
This idea that you talk about, about being okay with accepting your wants without necessarily acting on them, this is a good idea. It has served me well on many occasions, and it is good to be reminded of it. So, thank you.
peace,
Kati
.-= Kati´s last blog ..The Problem with Reality Shows =-.

By: Aly R.

Aly R. — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:59:30 +0000

This is a great post, really hits home. I kind of personally feel like recognizing that it is a want vs. a need is “step one” and that overcoming those wants or filling those spots with something more meaningful is step two (or maybe steps two through one-hundred). :) Ah, seems like there are so many areas to work on… I guess there is no looking back! The No Impact Man book is in my queue of must reads. Now, if I can only find it in the library…

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:17:25 +0000

The retreat was great
thanks for reminding us that wanting is ok
sometimes a hard lesson to learn to just sit with the want

By: Kim from Milwaukee

Kim from Milwaukee — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:19:33 +0000

Wow. That really hits the nail on the head. It’s all about wanting another spouse, wanting a bigger house, wanting a bigger car, wanting to be skinnier, wanting what he/she has, wanting to fit in. Very childish. We all need to grow up and be grateful for what we have.

By: Lisa @ Retro Housewife Goes Green

Lisa @ Retro Housewife Goes Green — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:48:01 +0000

I see we both wrote about consumerism today. I have problems with this often. My issue isn't wanting stuff, I'm cheap when it comes to myself and my husband is often annoyed at my "I don't need anything" reply when he asks if he can get me something. My problem is I attach memories to items so I have trouble parting with things. I'm getting better but it's still hard for me. .-= Lisa @ Retro Housewife Goes Green´s last blog ..Consumerism and Christmas =-.