Some say that if we move with intent and have our mind set on the target, abundance will follow us like a magnet. Most cannot do this as they are worried about not being fed if the people they feed don’t feed them back. This certainly applies to the online world as well as the offline world.
Maslow, one of the early pioneers of the humanistic movement felt that we first needed to take care of our needs before we turn to such lofty pursuits as self actualisation.
Many people, especially the poorer cultures cannot even conceive of self actualisation on an empty stomach as I have witnessed in India and elsewhere.
Maslow’s theory was a good starting point in the Western world, which had not heard much about this concept. The fact is that he had somehow tripped over a truth, but did not know how to express it. He had not experienced it himself.
This idea of self-actualisation he got from the East as did Jung, however if he really knew what he was talking about he would have called it, “no-self actualisation,” as the journey is to rid ourselves of our ego or strictly speaking “our self.”
I think if everyone has this trust in themselves, that they really need, then everyone should throw in the “secure jobs” they don’t really like and trust what will follow. My feeling is this great theory will break down when you discover you’re feeding someone and they don’t feed you back.
If I were engaging in social networking to be fed, I would starve to death, although hopefully I do contribute something to the online world, but this is primarily from overflow, but only because I’m fed elsewhere in my other worldly pursuits.
One point is that if “self- actualisation,” is not achieved and all our outer needs are met, we will STILL be unfulfilled. However, if we attain this state Maslow refers to, we will still be content even if all our other needs are not fulfilled.
In this day and age you don’t need to give up your entire Kingdom like Buddha did but obviously his inner needs were still not fulfilled despite having everything his kingdom provided.
It does take a very perceptive soul to see that YOU are lacking even before all your outer needs have been fulfilled.
Chris Borrett
Image Credit: FreeImages.com-Maria Herrera