“Come on, Sofia, it’s time to go home,” Mom said.
“But I want to swing more!” I shouted, flying up toward the clouds.
“You can swing a bit more, but then it’s dinner time.”
“But… but what if I don’t want dinner? What if I just want to swing… all evening?”
Mom laughed.
“Everyone has wants, Sofia. But sometimes, there are also needs.”
“What does that even mean?” I got off the swing and frowned.
“Well… you want to swing, but your body needs food.”
“And what if my body wants to swing, and my soul wants chocolate?”
“Then we’ll take care of both,” Mom laughed. “But first – soup!”
I started thinking.
Grown-ups often say “no” when we say “I want.”
But do they always do what they want?
“Mom, do you always do what you want?”
She paused.
“Not always. But sometimes what I need to do turns out to be exactly what I want – I just didn’t know it at first.”
Hmm. That sounded like a riddle.
Maybe… wants and needs play hide and seek sometimes.
And our job is to find them – both.
“Okay, I’ll eat dinner. But after that – more swinging!”
“Deal,” Mom said with a wink.
And while we walked home, I thought:
Maybe we can’t always do only what we want…
But we can always wish.
And that’s where everything begins.