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I Believe in Wanting What I Need
media type="file" key="Ryan TIB.mp3" I am a junior studying political science. I'm from Colorado. This is what I believe.

I believe in wanting what you need. Sometimes this is not as easy as it seems, and there are many pertinent applications of this rule in life. Staying within your means and keeping away from envious attitudes are the most important implications of wanting what you need. Being content with what you have is by no means a metaphor for giving up. This motivates me to prioritize my life and achieve my most important goals. The lessons in wanting what I needed started early in my life with a reminder in a certain Rolling Stones song. I can remember being magnetically drawn to the radio every time “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” began to play. The chorus is sung by a boy’s choir, and it reminded me of a Sunday church service. But this song was much flashier, like a church hymn in study guide style. Simply stated was an important life lesson in one of my all time favorite songs. My little brother often helped me to learn the meaning behind those lyrics. On birthdays or Christmas, he would naturally get presents that would catch my eye. Once the wrestling matches that ensued were broken up, and my shouting, “I just wanna see it,” subsided, I was sent to my room to think about the trouble I had caused. After a few times that happened, I recalled the choir boys singing their heavenly chorus. Living without that great gift was just that: Life! There was no chance of dying because I didn’t get that toy! When it came to decide what college I was going to attend, I was split between the University of Denver, and the University of Colorado at Boulder. DU was my first choice, but the price tag was just too high for an undergraduate degree. I can remember feeling the stinging disappointment on the drive home after visiting DU’s financial aid office. It was at that moment that I recalled the next line of that old Rolling Stones song: “But if you try sometimes, you find you get what you need.” The disappointment was soon to pass with my first day of college; there was so much to look forward to! I’ve been at CU Boulder for almost three years now, and I am happier here than I would be anywhere else. So close to home, yet so far away in the Republic of Boulder, Colorado. I believe in wanting what I do need, rather than wanting what I don’t need because it empowers me to achieve the goals that I would like to reach after college more quickly. Digging myself out of extra debt brought on by snatching up the newest tech doodad, or that HD TV is not something that I want standing in the way of my future. Years of training myself to want what I need has proven to be a truly good habit. And, for what it’s worth, it makes me very easy to shop for during the holidays.