This is a follow-up to my previous post, Live a Life of Balance.
Assuming you already live a life of balance, you may find that you still yearn for something else. Most needs, though essential to your happiness, are inherently self-serving. You seek to fill areas of your life in which you perceive a lack. But what happens when your life is full, when your needs have already been met? That is when you become aware of one final need, a need that is inherently selfless. It may not be necessary to bring happiness to your life, but it is certainly necessary to give it meaning. It is: the need to contribute.
It is a high-level need, therefore you should only seek its fulfillment after your happiness has been secured. This is simply because a man filled with sadness can only impart sadness upon others. There are exceptions of course, self-denying individuals who lead unhappy yet meaningful lives. We call them martyrs. They live in societies where hopelessness is so deep-seated that they must forgo their needs and sometimes even their lives to give others a fighting chance.
Though admirable, martyrdom should only be an instrument of last resort. If you can get along without it, better to prioritize your own needs so that you may be in a position to contribute in the first place. Your contribution is about creating something that will live on even after you’ve left this earth. Whether it be designing magnificent skyscrapers or grooming your children for success, choose carefully because how you decide to fulfill this, your final need, will ultimately be your legacy.
Choose to Take the Journey 
Well said.
The three needs are: to live, to grow, to create.
The “to create” can mean to reproduce, create a poem, or to “contribute”; this in all animals is the need that comes only after the basic needs of living and growing has been met. The first two needs are the foundation, the third is the house. The third need falls if the first two needs are unmet like a bad foundation can collapse a house.
Great metaphor. I’ve never heard of this before. Do you have a source, or did you just think of it yourself?
This is my own observation and words based on what I see in nature.
You seem very independent-minded. Very cool.