What do I really want?

Not too long ago I spent some time looking at vacation rentals in Hawaii. I wasn’t looking seriously; just daydreaming in response to some prompt that crossed my radar. Ever since, I’ve been receiving emails from the rental company saying, “don’t forget about that trip to Hawaii.”

It’s not just a trip to Hawaii that I’m not supposed to forget about. I recently bought some clothes for my wife and since then the online ads seem to think I’m very interested in women’s clothes. I also looked at an RV and the internet seems set on me buying an RV. I could go on…

The other day I heard myself say, “I’ve always wanted to go to Japan.” But the truth is, I want to go to Japan, but I haven’t always. There was a time when I had no thoughts of going to Japan. How did it get on my radar? That’s a great question; I don’t know (but I still want to go).

My guess is that most of what we want and what we think we’ve always wanted is heavily influenced by outside forces; they are not innate desires. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with wanting something, but keep in mind that there are suggesting forces, and they probably don’t really understand you or your priorities.