Basic Human Needs

Sailing the 7 C’s: The Basic Human Needs

Human beings have very few needs. In fact, beyond survival (food, water, shelter), there are only 7 factors that human beings require in order to live a full and contented life. All people of all ages and backgrounds and from all cultures and walks of life bar-none need the same things to live a complete and fulfilling life.  Our wants are vast and varied, our needs the same. They are:

1. Connection and intimacy – loving and being loved, social interaction, a sense of belonging, being related with others;

2. Creativity and stimulation – that is, things that stimulate your emotions you’re your mind: interests, hobbies, passions, the desire to do things with our time and make things where there was nothing;

3. Care for the body/mind – our physical health and mental/emotional health are inextricable, care for the one, the other also benefits, ignore one, the other suffers too;

4. Contribution: a sense of meaning and purpose – we need to feel that we are here for a reason, if it that’s a self-determining reason, to experience giving of ourselves to a greater good;

5. Comfort:  a sense of being safe and secure – things that help us relax, feel calm, able to rest, sleep adequately, experience peace;

6. Control:  a sense of control over one’s life – of having some measure of influence over our inner and outer worlds, a sense of “personal power”;

7. Conviction: belief in a “higher power” with genuinely benevolent intentions – the flip side of Control, this is the faith that sustains us through the hard times, the willingness and ability to surrender to the source of life and submit to the belief and trust that something greater than us is looking out for us, that we will be “okay”, that things always “work out in the end, that everything happens for a reason.

A lack or deficiency in any one area can cause the entire person to feel out of whack. Too often we concentrate on the handful of needs from this selection that we’ve proven to ourselves we’re best at achieving (i.e. ‘Status’ for a career-driven person; ‘Intimacy and Connection’ for a family man or woman), at the expense of the others.

There’s often a misconception that we have a limited amount of energy to use for our happiness and fulfillment, that like money, once we spend it all and use it up, it’s gone. Not so with life. Your career is not going to dissipate if you put attention on also having a family, or vice-versa: not if you don’t let it.

Exploring your connection to something greater than ourselves will not diminish your hard-earned sense of control over your life; nor will taking action and exerting some influence in your life diminish your faith in a higher power.

To find out where the source of upset in your life lies, copy the above list onto a sheet of paper with enough space in between each category for you to list those elements, aspects and qualities of your life that fall under each category. Do you have at least one item listed under each category? Are there any categories with a large number of items beneath them; any with none at all?

Look at those areas on the list that you feel you’ve cultivated well in your life; and praise yourself for it. Then look at those areas where you feel there’s room for greater attention and fulfillment. Give it some of your attention, and receive its fulfillment. Life is a balancing act; we balance our needs while pursuing our wants. The more of our fundamental needs that are met, the easier and faster it is to get all that we want.