The 80/20 Rule

There are a lot of things that I want. For instance, I would not mind a three series BMW with all the trim. Nor would I mind a walk-in closet full of nothing but designer clothing and shoes. Do I need those things? No. Is it ok to want those things? Yes. I just have to know the difference between needing and wanting. While those things I mentioned are blatantly superficial, they illustrate the point of an even greater dilemma-the battle of wants versus needs in every area of our lives. To explain let me tell you a story about a young woman. This woman is one who some would have said had everything: a loving husband, nice home, good job, great friends. She had everything anyone could ever want-or so it seemed. This woman, however, did not see that she had all she needed. Yes she had the husband, home, job, and friends, but she felt that she was missing out on something. The woman began to seek out what she thought she needed and slowly self-destructed. One day there was an emotional explosion, and the woman was on the verge of losing everything. Those things she took for granted-the husband, house, job, and friends-almost evaporated before her eyes. It was not until after the blow-up that the woman realized that she had all she needed. She had almost thrown away everything for what she wanted. It was ok for her to want, but she allowed her wants to blind her to the fact that she had all that she needed. That woman was me. Sometimes we allow ourselves to think that “the grass is always greener on the other side”. We even forget the 80/20 rule in which we may have 80 percent of what we need, but because we are not getting the other 20 percent we leave behind the 80 percent to find the 20 percent. Instead of working to increase what we have we settle for less than what we already had. Then when we have the 20 percent we realize just how much we are missing. That 20 percent may be tempting and may sustain you for a moment, but when the smoke clears and reality hits, you will realize that the 80 percent is more than enough.