Contentment

There are times that I really struggle with being content, and simply admitting that truth makes me feel extremely shallow.  Most days I am okay with what we have, or perhaps more accurately, what we don't have, but every now and then that green-eyed monster rears his ugly head and I feel discontent.  Discontent, and perhaps slightly envious.

These feelings arise most often when I compare my life to the lives of others, strictly on a material basis.  Today, I took my eldest to a birthday party for one of her dance friend's, and her house was something akin to a German looking cottage nestled within a copse of trees.  My humble ranch home paled in comparison on nearly every level. What do these people do to afford homes like this? And then I want to pout internally and think that it "just isn't fair". At our house, it seems like there are endless tasks to complete and repairs to make.  It never even feels "company" ready anymore, let alone a grand showplace.

However, here is the thing, I have noticed that when we have more, we appreciate less. I see this with my kids every day.  Every gadget they own, becomes old hat, and they move on to wanting the next big thing.  They carry this sense of entitlement, thinking that if their friends have something, they should get it too.  My 10 yo. is under the misguided impression that she needs a cell phone already, because three of her friends at dance have phones. We mistakenly tell ourselves if we can just have this or just have that, THEN we will be happy.  And we are, for a day or maybe even two.

Truthfully, I don't know what has occurred in the lives of these people that live in these humongous gorgeous houses.  Did a parent die and leave them money?  If so, that isn't a road I want to travel at this point in my life.  Do both the husband and wife sacrifice time with their kids, so that they can work full-time and make the money needed to afford a house like that?  If so, that is not a road I am ready to travel yet either.  I am here to testify that my kids have grown in the blink of my eye, and before long they will be moving out of my house.  There is plenty of time for working as they grow older, but now, I still like being as involved as I can be. The bottom line is, I don't know what sacrifices they have made, or if they have had to make any at all.  All I can do, is do my best to be thankful for what I have at this moment in time.  It definitely isn't easy, but it becomes easier when I don't compare myself or my "things" with others. At a time like this, a mission trip to a third world country would be extremely handy to humble me.  I have been on them before, and I remember the poverty, but the farther away a person gets from the experience, the less forceful the disparity of circumstances feels.

The only thing I can do to tame the beast of discontentment is to really focus on the things that I am thankful for.  The things that I wouldn't exchange for the biggest of houses and the nicest of cars. It doesn't eliminate the feelings for all time, but it certainly goes a long way to squelching any long lasting feelings of discontentment.