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What Are “Bodily Desires”?
Discerning Between Satiable and Unsatiable Desires
We must contend with bodily desires daily. The list is long — hunger, thirst, lust, comfort, immediate joy, etc. Let’s break a few of these down.
Hunger
Hunger is a simple enough one. We become hungry when we do not eat. Sometimes, if we overindulge regularly, we never stop becoming hungry. Just because you are hungry doesn’t mean that you should eat, after all. Thirst is similar in some ways, though normally you should drink when you’re thirsty. However, that doesn’t mean that you should drink 10 cups of coffee 18 bottles of beer.
“Curb your desire — don’t set your heart on so many things and you will get what you need.”
Epictetus
Lust & Comfort
There’s lust — we are all human at the end of the day, and we have raging hormones compelling us to spread our genes to the next generation. Comfort is a bit more of an abstract one, but it’s that desire to stay under your bedsheets in the morning, or to not go out for a walk because it’s cold, or to stay on the couch when you need to get to the gym.
It’s often said that you need to “get out of your comfort zone” to grow, and that seems to be true enough of a statement.
