I Want, I Need, I Have to Have

 

I love stuff. I like new stuff and especially old stuff. There is a special place in my heart for sparkly stuff and fuzzy stuff and stuff with glitter. I like to take out my stuff, look at it, and moan about how difficult it is to organize so much stuff.

I am not alone. Our society is awash in ostentatious consumerism. We even like to watch it all on TV. From "Fabulous Life of..." and "The Real Housewives" we are eager voyeurs of those who can Spend and Accumulate on a grand scale.

The sense that you are well off can shift and slide depending on your present company. There is always someone who would just kill to have your salary, as well as someone who could thoughtlessly spend it in a day.

I am a little ashamed of my cushy existence and that I only recently have thought to be thankful for the following things...things that I should have never taken for granted.

-My car. I don't have to navigate our city's inconvenient public transportation. Ever. Not in the hot, the cold, with kids, with groceries, between multiple doctor's appointments or jobs.

-My job. Five hundred and thirty-three thousand jobs were lost last month. I have the luxury of juggling one career, a faithful hard-working husband, and two beautiful and healthy children. I don't have to raise my children alone or work two or three jobs.

-My closet. In my closet you will find a wardrobe filled with clothes spanning several sizes. Actually this is just a subtle testament to the fact that I have enough food, that I can consume as much as I could ever want, and that I only go hungry when I choose.

With all honesty, I can tell you that I view each of the aforementioned things as basic, fundamental, even vital to my existence. I can be greedy and desirous, but these days I am experiencing something new and wondrous. It is called Contentment, and it can be yours for the low, low price of just imagining your Stuff and then imagining that it wasn't there.