Let’s talk about a way of thinking. When we are missing something but don’t know what it is, it would be better to satisfy our basic needs rather than succeed.
Something is missing in our lives
As I mentioned in earlier posts, in recent months, I have been trying to make new sauces with my fermented foods. My fermented sauces were far more delicious than the store-bought ones. So I discarded almost all of the store-bought sauces several months ago.
But I had a problem. There was no substitution for soy sauce.
Of course, I tried to create it. But I was not able to make it soon. At first, I substituted the mushroom sauce for the soy sauce. It was a simple, salted mushroom sauce. It had enough saltiness and umami, but something important was missing. But I don’t know what is missing.
Sometimes, we might have such a problem in our lives. We feel something important is missing. It gives us some emptiness or loneliness, even if we are successful compared to others. But we don’t know what is missing.
At such a time, it would be better to satisfy our basic needs rather than try to achieve more success. It would give us a more stable solution.
We don’t need special condiments
To explain it, I’ll use my case of soy sauce that I mentioned above.
To get a hint for making a substitute for soy sauce, I tried many condiments. Then I found that ketchup and starchy water filled it. What they have in common is sugar. So after I added a little sugar to my mushroom sauce, it filled a part.
Then, when I used mustard, it tasted good. So I added a little vinegar, and it also filled a part.
Finally, I noticed that soy sauce has all the primary tastes, such as saltiness, sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and umami. So I was able to complete my new sauce.
In this situation, we don’t need special condiments because our sense of taste is limited. We have five basic tastes: saltiness, sweetness, sourness, bitterness, and umami. If so, we can try simple ingredients such as salt, sugar, vinegar, herbs, or broth. They are all affordable.
Our fundamental desires are limited
We can also apply this to our lives. Our fundamental desires to live are limited. We have basic desires, such as sleep, exercise, nutrition, freedom, rest, distance from society, or the fun of making progress. I think they are more affordable than achieving more success.
But we sometimes misunderstand that high success fulfills these fundamental desires. Of course, it could be. But in many cases, we are unsure whether we can satisfy our desires if we get them.
Or we sometimes misunderstand that it is difficult to get some of them. We might believe that we are never allowed to fulfill these fundamental desires. Or we might misunderstand that some of them are expensive. Or we might misunderstand that we have to rely on another person to get some of them.
But the more fundamental our desires are, the more we are allowed to fulfill them.
Conclusion
So when we are missing something but don’t know what is missing, it would be better to satisfy our basic needs rather than succeed.
Our basic wants are limited. So the solution is simple and affordable in many cases.
If we understand this logic, we might be able to fulfill ourselves easier.
Thank you for reading this article. I hope to see you at the next one.
