What Do You Really Want?
What Do You Really Want?
Source: What Do You Really Want | Michael A. Singer (Watch: 32 min)
Contributor: Selena Garcia
“HOW DID YOUR MIND DECIDE WHAT IT IS YOU WANT AND DON’T WANT? YOU DID NOT MAKE THOSE DECISIONS. THEY WERE PROGRAMMED INTO YOU.” - MICHAEL A. SINGER
Michael A. Singer, a New York Times Best Seller, addresses some of life's biggest questions. But, he does it in a way where complex themes are digestible for aha moments.
Most people spend their entire lives chasing something or someone they think they want, only to get it and still feel hungry or unfulfilled. What could be more important than sharpening one’s awareness around what drives us, or why we want what we want?
Michael covers ground on how to stay open to life that unfolds around you, versus closing. When you close, “you give up the meaning of your life. You give up your joy, you give up your beauty, you give up your love.”
Take what you want and leave the rest.
“THE PURPOSE OF THIS DISCUSSION, IS NO MATTER WHAT YOU PUT ON THAT LIST, UNLESS YOU’RE VERY HIGHLY EVOLVED, IT’S NOT REALLY WHAT YOU WANT. IT’S NOT THAT IT’S WRONG, IT’S JUST NOT REALLY WHAT YOU WANT” - MICHAEL A. SINGER
(1:36) "The question is, what do you really want? And the way to do that–I'm going to be very bad in doing this– is to say ‘here is a piece of paper (not literally but figuratively), and I want you to write down what you want. Take a little time and write down what you want.’"
(2:48) "The purpose of this discussion is no matter what you put on that list unless you're very highly evolved, it's not really what you want. It's not that it's wrong, it's just not really what you want."
(5:26) "It isn't true you wanted a relationship. It isn't true you wanted children. It isn't true you wanted money. It isn't true you wanted to travel around the world. It isn't true you wanted, etc., etc. What's true is that you wanted to feel good inside. You wanted to feel love; you wanted to feel joy, you wanted to feel inspiration, excitement, meaning. Those are inner things; they are not outer things. You listed the things you listed because you thought they would give you what you really want. And so wisdom is about going deeper.”
“The truth of the matter is, the only thing you needed to write on a piece of paper when I asked you what do you really want, is a sense of total well-being. 'I want to feel love, I want to feel joy, I want to feel inspiration, I want to feel meaning and depth.' And you made the mistake by doing it, what I call indirectly, by saying I want something outside that I think will make me feel that inside."
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW, HERE. (32 min)