Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Value of the Material World

I have a snow day today!  Spending the morning with my husband and the dogs playing and working in the snow reminded me how much I love winter and miss Maine.  It's so beautiful and magical to wake up to a winter wonderland!

Today had me thinking about the 'things' we have in our life and their value.  As my husband and I were turning onto our street after a fun morning in the park with our dogs, my coffee spilled all over the dashboard of our vehicle and consequently down into speaker, vent, and who knows where else.  I promptly reacted by grabbing my knit hat off my head and mopping up what I could in the moment, meanwhile, the lighthearted and somewhat boisterous car ride had become uncomfortably silent....

"This is a wonderful day.  Let's not let an accident ruin it."

I left those two little sentences hanging in the air as I hopped out of the vehicle and off to get cleaning supplies.  A gentle reminder to us both.

*   *    *

We all are the owners of 'material things'.  We invest time and effort to attain an item and it hopefully serves a purpose for us for which we can appreciate and maybe even admire it.  We all have also had accidents in which we have lost or damaged items of value.  While frustrating, disappointing, and an overall let down, did such an accident ever anger you?  I bet we can all answer 'yes' to this one.

While disappointment with such an event is to be expected, responding with anger only signifies that we have allowed the perceived value of an item to overshadow that which is invaluable in life.  It's important to remind ourselves that lost or damaged material items can always be fixed or replaced, but the time wasted and the damage done to our relationships when we respond with blame and anger is forever imprinted on our lives and the lives of others - it cannot be undone, it cannot be replaced.

So, appreciate and value the 'things' you may have in life, but never allow them control - they are here to merely serve a purpose of convenience and/or entertainment, not happiness and fulfillment.  That is only found within ourselves and our relationships with others.


Shine on, Friends!

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