Thursday 2 December 2010

Prioritize Your Priority

Generally, humans are born with needs. We need protection, food, education, money, love and many more. But to fulfill each and single aspect of needs is not as easy as ABC. Theoretically, as what had been proposed by Abraham Maslow in his Hierarchy of Needs, humans need to fulfill 5 different stages of needs in which illustrated below:



Maslow stated that each of the level must be met before individuals can progress to the next level of the need hierarchy. If we look at the hierarchy above, we can see how Maslow prioritize the needs according to its practicality. I suppose Maslow had his own reasons to come out with this theory of humans' needs and I would say that his theory is widely used by many researchers, educators or even psychologists up until today. It is proven that his theory is beneficial especially for future reference but for us to follow exactly like what had been proposed by Maslow is still debatable. 

Nowadays, we face a lot of transformation as we are moving to the era of globalization in which advanced technology and luxurious lifestyles become our topmost priorities. People are striving hard for material needs until they don't realize the importance of fulfilling their emotional and spiritual needs at the first place. Many issues can be brought up when it comes to the needs at this particular time. Thus, it makes me critically think of what I need the most in my life actually. I have to prioritize my needs according to my priority. This is what I can say about my needs:




In my life, the very first aspects that I have to fulfill is my physiological needs. Obviously it involves the very basic needs of humans such as food, clothes, shelter and money. Being healthy is important as I have mentioned in my previous entry, I am happy if I am healthy. To be healthy, I need to get adequate sleep (6 hours per day at least), eat healthy food (according to the food pyramid BUT less sugar, please) and exercise regularly. How about the needs of clothes and shelter? Well, they serve as my protection; I feel safe if I have a place to stay (house) and clothes to wear. I have added up money in my physiological needs because it is a crucial need as it keeps me secure whenever and wherever I go.

The second stage of my needs will be based on love needs. Emotionally, I need love and the sense of belongingness is found when I have my beloved family, my Darling Fiance & my cheerful kids (in the future) by my side. I need them to motivate me because they are my biggest supporters. I know I can rely on them and they will never let me down. They guide me when I am lost; they advise me when I am wrong; they trust me and believe in my dreams; they accept me and love me as who I am.


A glimpse of my kesayangans!


My Beloved Parents!

My Adorable Sisters =D

My Only Brother =)

My Darling Fiance =p

Okay, enough of the pics...

Now let us moving on to the next stage in which I put esteem as my need. What is my definition of esteem needs? CONFIDENCE & POSITIVITY are the key words. In order to achieve the level of confidence is quite difficult and breathing positivity is a bit challenging for me. Some of us might feel confident enough while talking in front of public due to the positive thoughts that "Everything will go smoothly", "Relax, everything will be just fine"; whereas some might always be confident with their physical appearances and hold to the positive beliefs that "I am well-dressed today", "This is my best shoes ever". As for me, when I think positively, it will boost up my confidence level. No matter how tough the challenges might be, I always remind myself to be confident and always practice positive thoughts towards any situations. All of these two elements can lead to my self-satisfaction.

Self-fulfillment needs and esteem needs have one thing in common. SATISFACTION! But esteem adalah bersifat luaran while self-fulfillment lebih bersifat dalaman. As for me, self-fulfillment melibatkan pengisian rohani yang berteraskan muhasabah diri. Whatever needs that we want to achieve, spiritual needs should be our main concern. What does it mean by spiritual needs? In my point of view, tuntutan agama Islam merupakan pengisian rohani (spiritual need) yang melengkapkan kehidupan seseorang

Well, we might not have similar needs but Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs can be our guideline in prioritizing our needs. As humans, we can only plan what we want in life. Like myself, I can come out with my own hierarchy of needs, I can create my own dreams, I can tell what had happened to me yesterday BUT I can not predict what will happen tomorrow. Therefore, I should bear in mind that to make all plans work, to ensure all dreams come true, it depends on Allah's will. Oleh itu, jalan yang sebaik-baiknya adalah sentiasa berdoa dan memohon keberkatan Allah, tingkatkan ibadah supaya permintaan kita dimakbulkan Allah. Cepat atau lambat, dapat atau tidak dapat, semua itu atas ketentuan Allah. Setiap apa yang kita mahu lakukan, amalkanlah ajaran Islam sebagai panduan asas dalam kehidupan seharian.

Muhasabah diri setiap kali diuji Allah adalah jalan terbaik untuk mencapai keinginan dalam kehidupan. 

The end. Thank you! =)

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