Thirst

I remember going with my Dad and Uncle to a track meet in Berkeley when I was a kid. Ronaldo Nehemiah (before he was a 49er) was running the hurdles at the time and he just flew down the track, clearing those hurdles like they were nothing. Hurdles was never my thing. I always thought I'd have been great in Steeplechase, however. But I digress... The day was boiling hot, one of those rare plus 100 degree days in the Bay Area. We were in an exposed area of the bleachers and there was nothing to break the sun. Finally, after three hours, we left and walked back to our car. But just as we arrived at our car, we spotted a corner grocery store about 100 feet from the car. My Dad went in and bought three cokes. I kid you not, they were all gone before we reached the car. The coca cola evaporated in our mouths in less than ten seconds. I had never been so thirty in my life.

Thirst is a good synonym for desire, because we all thirst, and many times we quench that thirst with things that only make us more thirsty. Coca Cola, for instance, does not quench our thirst. It's slightly salty formula actually causes us to need more liquid. But on a hot day, a coca-cola will seem like an oasis in the midst of the Sahara Desert. When we are at our most thirsty, we will drink just about anything wet to slake that thirst.

On the other side of that equation is the knowledge that many of the reasons we are thirsty is not actually because we need hydrating. Sometimes our mouths need washing out. Sometimes we have become attuned to drinking things that aren't good for us - our desire for particular beverages having more to do with fulfilling other needs than for drinking itself. The need for liquid refreshments is more often than not a desire to quench something other than actual thirst.

When it comes to thirsts, however, I can often become a virtual camel. I can go for days or weeks without any sort of thirst at all. I merely wander through the desert of my life, ambling from place to place, with no particular thirst or desire guiding me. This, to me, is the quintessential definition of existing, not living.

To me life requires thirst. It is the one human trait, both good and negative, that defines us. When we wake up in the morning, if we are not thirsty for something, we will have no desire to move. We aren't satisfied. We aren't happy. We are merely existing - taking up space, breathing air, with no real impact on ourselves or anyone else. We are not getting in anyone's way because we are not going anywhere. Until we have a thirst, or desire, to properly motivate us, we have no direction.

Unfortunately, most times my desires are such that I will consume the first wet thing that comes along - regardless of whether or not it actually quenches my thirst. When I finally attain my desire, I discover all too quickly that I am still thirsty - that this thing didn't do a darn thing to satisfy me. If I feel the need to travel, I will find something that I've never done close by and I will go there on the weekend. I will no doubt enjoy myself. But come Monday, I will quickly discover that I still feel the need to travel. So I will then plan a longer vacation - maybe a week in DisneyWorld. And I will go there and spend enormous sums of money and have a "REALLY" good time - well worth the money I spent. But when I return from vacation and unpack my bags, I will realize that I still need to travel. Another destination, perhaps? A different destination? Maybe. A once in a lifetime expedition - couldn't hurt to try? But in the end, when I've tried everything and have traveled to all parts of the globe, and I still feel that desire, that thirst - perhaps I need to examine that thirst a little more closely and ask myself, what do I truly desire?