Most of the time we function as beasts of empathy. We are geared to take on the emotions of those around us. If you are with someone who is angry, you will tend to take on that anger. If you are around someone who is sad, you will tend to share in their sadness. In the same way, we tend to share in happiness. 

We all have needs. Having our needs  met leads to security. Needs that are unmet can lead to feelings of insecurity. And we all have needs, as much as we sometimes hate to admit it. If someone has had a need met and now is not having that need met, they tend to do whatever is necessary to get themselves to the comfortable place of having that need met again.  

I have found myself recently thinking about a discussion I had with someone years ago now. The person was talking about taking walks with their significant other. At the trailhead where they took most of these walks was an old tall and twisted tree. The tree was very striking and they had a great amount of love for this tree. This seemed odd to the person, who questioned why they would be struck by this tree that was so strange looking. In describing the tree, the person talked about how the tree had the scars of life on it.