I wondered what the basic needs <br />Of the average human could be <br />I know these don’t apply to everyone <br />But they do apply to me <br /> <br /> <br />First on my list: would be nutrition, <br />the usual food and drink <br />Second would be: Rest, sleep and relaxation <br />Third would be the need … <br />For recognition I should think <br /> <br />Fourth would be… most certainly <br />The human need for touch <br />For without the laying on of hands <br />Life would lack so much <br /> <br />Fifth would be the need for place <br />A place to call one’s own <br />A place within the human race <br />A place that one calls home <br /> <br />Sixth would be acceptance <br />Of one’s place within the clan <br />And the mutual understanding <br />Of exactly where we stand <br /> <br />Seventh is the sense of need <br />To feel the need to belong <br />And to also feel that one is needed <br />And that the need is strong <br /> <br />Eighth on my list is comfort <br />Comfort within one’s skin <br />Comfort in where one is in life <br />Comfort without and within <br /> <br />Ninth would be the need for pleasure <br />For the body and for the mind <br />Pleasure of the physical self <br />Pleasures of the human kind <br /> <br />Goals would be my tenth essential <br />An additional and necessary need <br />For a life without ambition Would … <br />be bland and empty indeed <br /> <br />Satisfaction is number eleven <br />For unrest on the soul is an onerous weight <br />While the feeling of satisfaction <br />Is a most humanly pleasant state <br /> <br />Last, but not least among all of the needs <br />Of the human animal I’ve listed above <br />is the combined total of all of those deeds <br />Last…is peace of mind…and love<br /><br />David Whalen<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/an-even-dozen-human-needs/
