Basic Human Need of Belonging Understood

Posted On: February 27, 2019

Telling someone, ‘you belong to me’ or ‘I belong to you’ sounds possessive and clingy. Each individual is free in his own right and does not belong to another person. That said, everyone has an inherent psychological need of belonging, a need for being accepted and acknowledged by fellow human beings.

Belonging is a primal human motivation. In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, belonging is stated as a psychological need, placed above the basic survival needs and safety. Those having no close relationships and no associations with any clique or social group, sequester themselves from the world and suffer loneliness. These situations are common in today’s age, says Psychology Today. According to this article, 40% of adults currently feel lonely, at times right in the middle of a crowded party and abandoned by others.

Having cordial relationships and being affectionate with each other is not just a survival need but it happens to be the purpose of our existence as human beings. Loving, living in happiness and joy, and sharing knowledge with each other to create blissful experiences is all it is for human beings to do. This is the purpose of our existence, and it has to be understood to continue performing actions without feeling tired and to put the unfettered imagination to rest. These thoughts will inspire human conduct that inhibits social rejection and encourages acceptance.

Love is the law of God. You live that you may learn to love. You love that you may learn to live. No other lesson is required of Man.

Mikhail Naimy, The Book of Mirdad

We are a coexistence of the physical body and the Life atom; we need the knowledge to satiate the Life-atom and Abundance to nourish the Physical body. The body is not permanent while the consciousness is. The life-atom is endowed with Imagination which needs answers to all the whys and hows.

The Life-atom or Atman takes human shape to gain knowledge and make harmonious relations by interacting with self and with other life-atoms. Perceiving and realizing reality as it is, results in peace for the inquisitiveness of the life-atom and that remains the purpose of its existence.

Anand Damani Author at Medium

Serial Entrepreneur, Business Advisor, and Philosopher of Humanism

Writes about Human Behaviour, Universal Morality, Philosophy, Psychology, and Societal Issues.

Anand aims to help complete and spread the knowledge about Universal Human Values and facilitate their practice across sex, age, culture, religion, ethnicity, etc.

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