Achievement and wealth creation is the child of desire. But desire needs to be treated with caution. Being intensely caught up in your desire clouds the beauty of the present moment. That is the Americanized way of perpetuating our desires. The advertising machine is the media that escalated these desires. At the other extreme, the ancient eastern cultures deny the idea of holding to our desires. They warned us against the suffering that desire later brings.
Desire creates attachment that brings suffering. Being attached to the outcome of your desire springs from “the need” that has the power over you. For example, you desire to spend your coming vacation with your friends next week. It will cost you $500. The problem is that you don’t have this money right now and the amount available barely covers your monthly bills. You kept visualizing to yourself how this vacation will be great. Every day passes, and you don’t have the $500, you grow anxious. This obsession steals every passing moment and deprives you of being attentive to what’s going on around you. Such a desire, then, has the power over your life.
Between denying your desire and needing to achieve it, the resolution is empowering yourself. Empowerment comes from awareness that directs you to let go of your neediness to have your vacation now and postpone it till you are ready. In so doing, you have power over your ego. Because desire and attachment of the outcome are but expressions of your ego. It’s your ego that tells you the necessity of having your vacation now. It’s this ego which lies you awake at night plotting how to achieve your desire. During plotting, you are absent to what needs to be done now. Your ego is the root cause of your desires and attachment of the outcome.
Our guest is Walt Disney who knew how to manage his desire that took him long time to achieve. He is an American motion-picture and Television producer. He is the pioneer of cartoon films and the creator of Disneyland. His deep-rooted desire for creating animation lies dormant inside of him in spite of setbacks. At age 22, he was fired from newspaper for “not being creative enough.” Another setback was owning a studio that went bankrupt.
The kind of desire that Walt Disney had was the purest one ever. It is the desire to inspire people. His life is an inspiration to many. How Walt’s father laughed at son’s dream and called it a waste of time. But besides Walt’s cartoons and movies, he is a symbol of courage, change and patience. Walt Disney’s world is still the most-visited vacation destination resort anywhere.
Nothing can be achieved in life without first planting the seed of desire. Being attached to your desires creates neediness and anxiety. It is through letting go of the outcome of this desire that you can enjoy the present moment and plan for your future.
