View this post on Instagram

 

“There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation than for bread.” ~ Mother Teresa
~

Hunger is not only for food; it is for everything we want in life.

Hunger is a profound drive that compels us to kill that niggling feeling we have within us. Hunger can force us to do things we did not know we could or had the capacity to do.

Eliminating this feeling of hunger gives us satisfaction. It can have a positive or negative affect on us; it can make us happy or unhappy.

Here are 7 things we may be hungry for in life:

Hungry to be appreciated

Everyday, we try to do our best where work is concerned. Whether it is related to our job, household chores, or just a hobby. We do our best for self-satisfaction and also to get noticed or to get credit in the eyes of others, in the hope that they can see what we have done and comment on our achievements.

The hunger for appreciation begins here. The hope of being appreciated, of looking for kind words of approval, the desire to hear something positive after doing something to the best of our potential—is the want of killing the hunger within to be appreciated.

When cooking or writing, I use a lot of my energy and intelligence (believe it or not). In return, I would like it if readers loved my work by reading the articles, leaving a comment, and giving me a heart. I would also like it if my family appreciated my cooking (even if it meant lying once in a while!). These little gestures make things worthwhile, as well as motivate me to carry on writing and trying out new recipes.

Hungry to be accepted/included

I moved from the West to the East. The hunger to fit in was immense. I wanted to be like the others, as well as maintain my own identity. I could not change myself because I was who I was. My values and all the life skills I had learnt could not be undone because they were who I was and who I am. I could only inculcate some of what I was seeing around me, and exude my personality and learning to others around me.

I wanted to be the best of what I was seeing. I wanted to learn to talk like others, wear clothes like them, have the general knowledge they possessed, and look as if it was natural at the same time. It was all about conforming to their norms.

My hunger to be included went too far though. I started to become someone I wasn’t. I got lost. Amidst the disarray, I had to search for my identity. Thankfully, I found myself by simply letting go of whatever made me feel uneasy and looking for what I had let go of to please others.

One must be careful not to let the hunger overtake our comfort level, as we may be in danger of becoming a fake person and losing ourselves. For some, it may become too late as one gets carried away trying to “fit in”: you may become confused about yourself, leaving you wondering whether you were the “real” you then or now.

Hungry for change

Humans want change, but at the same time, we don’t want change. It’s a paradox that we constantly fight in our minds. As much as we fear change, we want it too.

At the moment, we all want change. We want to go back to the normal lives we had 18 months ago. We do not want the new normal. We want to revert.

But do we?

Isn’t it great to get up and work from home, not to travel to the office, waste time in the tiresome everyday traffic? It’s fabulous to eat lunch at home and not hover around the canteen looking at the limited options and getting whatever there is on the menu (usually a cold, soggy sandwich). Catching up on the household chores, which were usually left for the weekends, in between the meetings is an added benefit.

So, do we really want things to be back to what they were?

Yes, because we cannot meet our family, friends, go to the shops, or go for a coffee or a drink with friends without the dread and fear. Missing friends and family has had terrible consequences on our mental health.

Wouldn’t the best of both worlds be ideal?

Hungry for gossip

As some of us have become total recluses at our homes, some still thrive on gossip. We may add a little extra spice to make it even more interesting, and pass it on!

When a neighbour’s car was missing from its parking place for four days, my neighbour was convinced that he left his wife after an argument she heard overnight coming from their place. She spread the gossip to the whole neighbourhood. Later on, we came to find out that the commotion was due to the excitement of him getting a promotion and then taking his wife on holiday.

We all love a bit of gossip. Sometimes, it can breed misconception and lies, which can be harmful. Gossip should be treated as its name and taken lightly, as fun.

Hungry for friendship

I remember when I was the new girl in school. I was hungry for friendship. Watching everybody around me in little groups made me feel lonely and left out. I was desperate to befriend someone and belong to a recognised set of people. Being new, I was shy to approach anyone, so I watched and waited. Eventually things worked out and I had my own friends and was happy to belong to a group. The same situation repeated itself at college. However, this was easier as everybody was new at college.

Humans have a need to belong, and when that is amiss, we are disturbed and we start to feel sad.

Whether one is new at the workplace, new to town, or new to a country, there is always that desire to belong to feel secure. We are social animals with the need to talk and share our insecurities with others so we can live.

Hungry for love

Hungry for love is the ultimate. We all crave the feeling of being loved, cared for, spoilt, and to have that someone special to come home to. This feeling is irreplaceable. Warmth, comfort, security are its prerequisites.

This hunger is a strange one. It’s almost like an addiction to the one person. Blinded at times by this hunger, we fail to see if it is doing us any harm. Logic and intelligence can fail when we pursue to kill this hunger at times. Be careful when you have your next encounter with this hunger. Try to be objective and judge the situation from a distance. It’ll work out; it always does, sooner or later.

We always find our one person and if we don’t, we find someone greater—ourselves. There can be nobody who can be more reliable and caring toward us than our own selves.

Hungry for success

Once one gets a taste of success, there’s no going back. Hard work networking, study, collaboration, good judgment skills, and liaisons form the basis of this type of hunger. Sometimes, corruption, unethical dealings, secrets, lies, politics can too. Usually, it takes a combination of these things at different times of our lives to achieve success.

Success is like being on the top of the world, which is why I guess it’s called the “pinnacle of success”. One feels euphoric, ready to take on future challenges with a layer of invincibility (or rather self-confidence) to protect oneself from anything or anyone.

Hunger makes our lives more exciting and stimulating: creating, connecting, and projecting positivity by living in harmony within ourselves, and so others may do so by watching us thrive on hunger. Mostly, it makes us a better person because we are constantly learning, day by day, improving ourselves, becoming a better person and hence making the world a better place to live in.

~