A desire can sometimes feel automatic and compulsive, as though there were no possible alternative to its satisfaction. In such a case, it feels absolutely necessary to get what we want.
Sometimes this means we are actually describing a need instead of an intention. When we are hungry, we want to eat the food that is in front of us, but this want is nothing more than an intuitive response to the need for nourishment. Such a desire is not an intention because it arises in the moment and can be satisfied in the moment, whereas an intention is about the future.
An intention always involves some kind of goal or ideal state we are trying to reach, maintain, avoid, or confirm. It is the future-oriented nature of our intentions that causes us to become attached to them. Intentions give us specific, definite goals to strive towards and we crave this certainty. Sometimes our desires feel automatic or compulsive because we become attached to them almost as quickly as they form.
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