The word necessary is an interesting word. It means essential and indispensable, but what makes something necessary? Who decides? Who gives it that title? Who gets to decide to treat it so?

I would argue that we do. Not everything that is necessary in our lives comes from our wants and needs, but the decision to treat it as necessary certainly rests with us.

Why is this important?

It’s important for several reasons because I don’t think we pay enough attention what we deem to be essential and indispensable things in our life. We devote our time and energy to things, that while important, might not be truly necessary and in turn ignore meaningful things we should be doing. We ignore them because we have so much work to do, we never seem to find the time.

Our dreams are often designated as unnecessary. They are the thing we get to or think about when we finally have the time to do so, but this is a mistake. We will spend working eight to ten hours pushing paper, working tasks, earning a living, but we won’t even invest a tiny portion of that to ensure we have something meaningful to live for.

Your dreams are important. They are more important than most of the things we consider essential and indispensable and we have to change our script. We have to change the way we approach our day, our life, and our priorities.

Who you are matters. You cannot give yourself up for your husband or wife, or your kids, or anyone else for that matter. I’m not talking about selfishness here. I’m not proposing we become self absorbed, but instead I am suggesting it is important to be confident and know or learn exactly who we are and why we are alive.

We need to dream. It’s not nice thought or a passing fancy. Dreaming is a necessary part of life. It is what gives us tremendous joy and satisfaction, and it is what will help us share ourselves with all the people that we love, and welcome strangers with a warm smile.

Whatever dreams you have, you have to make them a priority. You need to get to doing things with as much pressure as the paperwork that is waiting for you every time you get to work. Your dreams are important as a company’s bottom line. Your time is as precious as their, and there will be conflict.

Yes, there will certainly be conflict between what you want, what your family wants, what your country wants, and what your work demands. But just because there is going to be conflict doesn’t mean that you cannot win this battle. It doesn’t mean that you eliminate time wasted activities from your life, and care a bit less about the things others deem so important.

Our happiness hinges on our understanding of what is necessary.

Death is a prescribed given for all of us. Living a fulfilling life on the other hand is not. Many of us choose to live lives of quiet desperation, but this can be mitigated if meaningful living becomes a necessity in our lives.

Never apologize for who you are or hide the dreams that beg to be pursued deep inside of you. Treat yourself and your passions as necessary. This is what means to be human. This is what it means to be alive. It is simply necessary.

 

Cover photo generously provided by photographer Danny Trujillo | https://unsplash.com/@panoramablack