I Feel Desperate

Today's Word

cronyism \KROH-nee-iz-um\ • noun : partiality to cronies especially as evidenced in the appointment of political hangers-on to office without regard to their qualifications

Today was Monday; another day without work and I just simply DO NOT know what to do, where to turn, who to talk to, when this situation will change.  Today begins another work week and I have none.  My money is running out.  I don't have much left and I don't have any more time to spare.  I'm reaching hopeless fast.  I find myself in a deep depression and scared.  I know its only going to spiral into a worse situation as the the depression gets worse, and my health begins to deterioriate.  I feel I've already reached helpless since no one knows everything!  I wish I only had cronyism being my worst worries.  That'd be really nice.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow was a brilliant psychologist who developed a framework of human potential. He categorized various levels of need which drive a human being. When a lower and more pressing need has been satisfied the human feels their motivation shift to a new need at a higher level until the ultimate state of self-actualization is reached.

Maslow's idea is applicable not only to individual people but to social groups too. Small organizations and groups of friends or teammates, couples, companies, schools and whole societies move up the hierarchy. This section outlines the theory and the need levels and discusses some of the implications.

Survival Needs:The raw basics of survival. Without these nothing else matters. Food, water shelter. The caveman needs.

Security Needs:Safety from danger, safety in numbers. This covers everything from having a big club with you in your cave, to having a parent look out for you, to having a system of law and order in society.

 

Belonging Needs Affiliation as part of a group with which you identify. A family, a social group, some likeminded peers. The need not to be an outcast.

 

Love Needs This is part of the need to belong and doesn't necessarily mean love in the romantic sense. Love for ones family and friends applies too. It is the need to have people to care deeply for and to feel cared for in return. Freud dealt with the survival, security and belonging needs as manifested in the human psyche.

 

Self-Esteem Needs The need to achieve a level of competence or status that one feels is useful and deserving of respect in society. Adler's psychology of power and inferiority complexes deals with the specific nature and manifestations of this need.

The next few needs are higher still and are often parallel to each other in a person or society. Which is dominant seems more determined by individual aptitude and skill.

Self-Expression Needs The need to control and create within ones environment. Freedom to express individuality that will not collide with the needs for belonging and esteem. An artists may feel this particularly.

Intellectual Needs A higher need. The need for people to pursue intellectual avenues and probe the reaches of human understanding. A gifted person will feel this very strongly and may actually experience mental illness if this need isn't satisfied.

 

Spiritual Needs Connecting with a greater power or God or the development of a consistent and nourishing philosophy is a psychological need. One needs a reason to live.

 

Self-Actualization This is the highest attainment according to Maslow and is the state where a person is achieving all they want and is able to fulfill their true potential unhindered by society or circumstance.

Today I'm Grateful for:  My friend Jaime, sending me an Instant Message on AOL which I missed.  In that message he says;  "Hello Martin, I hope all is well".

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