Kinda funny… In my fed yesterday, on IG, came a segment about kids and adolescents that didn’t like the presents that they received on Christmas. It was pretty hardcore. I mean some of these young people received gifts like TVs and the like and in one case the young man threw it on the floor and stomped on it because he wanted a Samsung and not the brand that he was given. WOW! It went on from there. Funny, from someone on the outside. But, I’m sure it was not funny for the parents who took the time and spent their money in order to give their child what they thought they wanted.
 
I don’t know about you, but I never really got the gift I wanted on Christmas either. I certainly would not have behaved like those young people did or my ass would have been kicked by my father. They were just disrespectful and unappreciative. And, I was taught to never behave in that manner. Me, I just smiled and thanked my parents and was thankful for that anything I actually did receive.
 
I think the ideal example of all this came when I was a young teenager. Synthesizer had hit the market a number of years before, but they were way too expensive for someone like me to afford. A few months before Christmas, when I was like fourteen, Korg released the Mini-Korg. I would go and play it at my local music store, and I really believed that it would change my life if I could get one. It’s cost a very affordable, (affordable compared to Moogs and Arps of the era), $395.00. Christmas was coming around. I told my mother about it. Told her how much it was. How much I really wanted it. What it would mean to my life. Where to go and buy it. Christmas morning arrives. I was all full of anticipation and hope. What did she buy me? An autoharp. I was very-very sad. What the fuck was going to do with an autoharp? But, I thanked her. At least she cared enough to try. But, I truly believe not getting one of the Mini-Korgs, and not being able to personally afford a synthesizer for a few more years, truly altered the evolution of my life. That’s why, in the case of my nephew, who by fourteen was already an accomplished musician putting out his music, I try to hook him up with whatever he wants or needs to create. I hope to give him the chance that I never had.
 
As adulthood came, some years I received no Christmas gifts at all. But, I guess that’s just life.  
 
On the same note, a few days back, I ordered a new Les Paul from the Gibson factory in Nashville. It’s a model that’s apparently exclusive only to the factory release. It got here fast. In like two days. I opened it up after UPS dropped it off yesterday afternoon. The guitar immediately disappointed me. Not a bad guitar on the grand scheme of things. But, less than what I expected. Life??? Christmas???
 
So, here we are. It’s Christmas Eve. Christmas is tomorrow. Hanukkah has already passed. Did you get what you wanted? Do you anticipate getting what you truly want? Did you get your loved one(s) what they truly wanted? Did you get them anything? Did you get that person who you care about anything? Did you get them what they truly wanted? Did you care enough to get that person that you do not even personally know, but perhaps know of or some-time encounter, anything? Did you even bother to think about them?
 
Life is all based on who you care about, what you care about, and what you can afford to give to others. Sure, that’s the facts. But, if you don’t care enough to care enough to understand what those outside of yourself truly want or need, what does that say about you?
 
And here, this, this brings us to the flash point of desire. As The Buddha said, “The cause of suffering is desire.”
 
Desire… This is something that few people even consider. They do not consider what they desire or what their desire(s) are doing to their life or to the life of others. They simply Want. But, in that wanting what is created?
 
For some, what they, “Want,” what they desired, is focused upon a higher goal. For most, however, like those in that piece on the Gram, they just want what they want and when they don’t get it, they throw a fit.
 
How about you? Where do you fit into this equation? Where do you fit into the game of, “What you want?”
 
One of the greatest and/or most important things I find about the Spiritual Path is, it really schools one into watching their desires, understanding their desires, taking hold of their desires, and ultimately controlling their desires. For if you live a life bound by desire, if you live a life controlled by desire, you will forever be unfulfilled.
 
So, think about it… What have your desires meant to your life? What have your desires done to your life? What have you done to accomplish your desires? Did you harm anyone in the process of your gaining your desires? If you did, what does that mean to your karma? What does that mean to your ultimate life definition?
 
Also, what have the desires of others done to your life? What have you done to achieve the desire of someone else? What have you done to give that someone else what they truly wanted? How did that affect them? And, how did that affect your everything?
 
We all want what we want. We all have desires for what we desire. But, if we do not, very consciously, keep all of those desire in perspective, what does that mean to the ultimate definition of your life and the life of all of those you love, live with, know, or encounter?
 
If you do not think about all of this, you really should.