Want Wish Will

Thinking about Nietszche's "will to power" and thinking about a woman I was once involved with. She'd frequently ask, "What do you want?" which I assumed meant, "What do you want in this relationship?" Truth is, at the time I wasn't sure what I wanted.

I eventually realized, however, that she shouldn't ask "what do you want?" A better question would have been, "Do you know yourself?" I know now, a man who knows himself knows what he wants, but a man who has no self-knowledge has no sense of his wants.

I'm weary of wanting and wishing. The last time a person asked me what I want I answered "I don't wan't." The Psalmist wrote "I shall not want." Wishing and wanting are connected with powerlessness, childishness and dreaming. Nietszche's concept of "will to power" puts things in a new perspective - of taking hold of personal power. I don't want, I will: I will to do these things that I once wished for and wanted.

Strikes me as a good idea, at least.