Needs Versus Wants and More Donuts

I was reading a friend's blog and his subject matter struck a chord with me surrounding the whole area of needs versus wants. He was talking about personal possessions but you can apply the same thought process to probably anything. Right now I feel somewhat guilty as I just consumed three donuts. Now I needed food but did I really need three donuts? Yes they were tasty and yes there is no actual need to deny myself some pleasure but the flipside is still did I really need them. This isn't even getting started on possessions.

In less than two weeks I will be flying out to India where I will be confronted most likely by two extremes; opulence and poverty. And for the first time I will be there because of the opulence as opposed to the poverty. I'm not entirely sure how I will cope with this.

I am not in any way saying that wealth and possesions are wrong, on the contrary I think they can add value to our lives. However when this is at the expense of other people or when it is the be all and end all of a persons life then something is wrong. Quite often a paucity of possesions can lead to a greater understanding of what is actually important in life.

Perhaps most depressing of all is the concern that I will not act upon this struck chord. But maybe the fact that I am thinking about it is the start and fullness of it's impact will be seen over time, even if I can't see it...