Eric Berne, the ‘father’ of Transactional Analysis, said we each have six hungers, each of which must be satisfied. They are: stimulus hunger, recognition hunger, contact hunger, sexual hunger, structure hunger and incident hunger, (you can find out more in, for example, An Introduction to Transactional Analysis by Phil Lapworth and Charlotte Sills, pp.81-84).
Building on the idea of the Life Wheel (Click here to see my previous blog), it occurs to me that these six hungers can also be plotted on a wheel. Where hungers are being met, we know that we are being nourished; if any of these fundamental needs are being neglected or left unmet in your life, they may need attention.
The Hungers Wheel looks something like this:
We don’t all have these hungers in equal measure, so it’s really important, when you come to complete the wheel, to think about how satisfied you feel in this area, not how much of a particular form of nourishment you are getting.
Download your own printable copy of the Hungers Wheel by clicking here. Then follow my blogs every day next week to find out more about each hunger, and to see my suggestions for ways in which you can use the Hunger Wheel to achieve more satisfaction in your life.
If you’re uncomfortable with marking any of the six hungers on the wheel, then don’t. Just ignore them. If it’s a blockage of some sort, or something else that’s limiting your ability to work this through in your life, then remember that you can contact me to discuss professional support.
And remember, too, as Martin Luther said:
“This life, therefore, is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way. The process is not yet finished, but it is actively going on. This is not the goal but it is the right road. At present, everything does not gleam and sparkle, but everything is being cleansed.”
(with thanks to http://loveandbelief.wordpress.com/ where I came across this quotation).
looking forward to the rest of the series.
love the idea of the hunger wheel.
Posted by Helz-Design | October 1, 2011, 10:00 pm