WANT VS. NEED

I am about to describe one of the BIG secrets to being happy:

Want vs. Need.

There is a big difference between wanting things and needing things. For instance, when it comes to auditioning, there’s a big difference between “wanting” the job” and “needing” the job.

The universe wants you to want things, with all your heart, and then to do everything in your power to get it.

Where people make the mistake is when they “need” it.

It is important to want things.

The only way to get the brass ring is to reach out for it. The only way to achieve your goals is to have them in the first place. That is the act of “wanting”.

Putting your desires out there, voicing them to the universe, has great creative power. I like to put my desires in writing. Several times in my life I have looked back at my journal, and found that something I expressed a desire for in writing actually came true for me fairly soon after.

Jim Carrey tells a story that before he became famous he sat beside the Hollywood sign looking out over Los Angeles, and told himself over and over “I want this. I want this.” I believe the size of your success can be attributed in part by the size of your desire.

Thoughts are creative, and the thought of what you want starts the ball rolling in that direction.

The trick is not getting married to the exact outcome you desire.

You mustn’t NEED that which you want. Some actors wrongly think, “I need this job to be happy. I need this to be complete. I need this to prove to my family I deserve to be acting.”

It is a great myth for one to think, “If I get this, THEN I’ll be happy.”

It never works out that way. And why is that? Because that statement has an unspoken first half, which is, “I am not happy right now.” It says, “I am not enough. My life is not enough. Without this I am unhappy.”

You must come to a place where you are happy “as you are”, for that is an attractive energy in the universe. Nothing outside you can really make you happy. Happiness comes from within. It is a personal choice. So get good with yourself “as is”, because as they say “Wherever you are, there you are.”

Besides, you can’t know what will make you happy in the long run. (see “A Higher Plan”)

It’s the same with finding a lover. If you walk around feeling like half a person, wishing you had a boyfriend/girlfriend to make you happy, that almost never gets results. People smell your desperation. Yet, don’t you find that as soon as you’re dating someone, all of a sudden all these people come out of the woodwork to flirt with you?

They sense that you don’t NEED them, and that’s attractive. You are shining from within, instead of having a needy energy that’s shooting outward at everyone.

And so it is with a job.

You may want something, work hard to achieve it, and in your process achieve something even greater than your original goal. So, don’t get married to what you imagine is the result of your pursuit, just be involved in the pursuit.

Besides, you already have a job. Your job is to be a joyful artist. No one can take that away from you.