It is said that desire is what can define your life in a certain direction. It is a strong emotion that can dictate how one thinks, acts, and perceives life itself. It can lead someone to acting negatively and giving into evil and temptation, or it can be used to drive someone internally toward a greater good. Many authors and philosophers have debated on what the true meaning and origin of what desire really is.
Famous text such as the Bible and Plato Allegory display good examples of desire and the complexities of what it is about. To me we must follow our desire in order to achieve our goals and to positively affect our lives. In Genesis , God puts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God puts specific guidelines on Adam and Eve and tells them not to disobey his rules.
He specifically says to Adam and Eve “ You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die”. In the Garden of Eden there is a serpent who tempts Adam and Eve to eat the fruit. The fruit became desirable to Adam and Eve because it was said to give the person who eats it long lasting wisdom. The serpent’s persistence became so strong that Eve could no longer resist the temptation of eating the fruit. Eve ended up eating the fruit and gave Adam a bite as well. Temptation is an example of desire in an evil form.
Eve fell into the temptation of the fruit and those temptations made her desire what God told her not to do. This is a good lesson of how pursuing one’s desire is sometimes not the best thing for that person. Sometimes we need to fight our temptations (desire) for the greater good or to avoid longer lasting consequences. One may argue that Adam and Eve getting removed from the Garden of Eden was a punishment.
