Conflicting Desires

You are highly skilled and experienced at fulfilling your desires. The problem is, many of your desires conflict with other of your own desires.

For example, a desire to continually consume junk food would be in conflict with a desire to be fit and lean. A desire to go fishing every day can undermine the desire to be successful in your career.

The challenge of achieving meaningful success and fulfillment is largely a challenge of prioritizing and directing your own desires. In fact, the challenges imposed by the outside world are often much less severe than the challenges of choosing between conflicting desires within you.

So how do you resolve the conflicts between your desires?

First, accept each desire as it arrives, without judgment or resistance. Then, remind yourself that you can choose to follow that desire, or to follow an alternate desire, or to follow no desire at all for the moment. Finally, know that you can quickly and easily let go of each desire.

See your desires as reminders and suggestions rather than imperative commands. Calmly accept and consider each desire, knowing that you always have a choice, and your desires will stop fighting against each other.

-Ralph Marston