Bit #20: The Material Myth

Little Life Lesson and Bit of Grace 20: MAterial Things Do Not = Happiness

"We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have." ~Frederick Koenig

(Feel free to hum or sing along to this song snippet. If you find yourself singing it all weekend, I am either incredibly sorry or "you're welcome.")

....Living in a material world
And I am a material girl
You know that we are living in a material world
And I am a material girl...

Oh, Madonna is so wise! (What's that? That adjective isn't in the first 100 you would use to describe Madonna???)

We do live in a material world and the term "keeping up with the Joneses" is so true in this crazy world that we live.

I have lived many days of my life thinking (and I still have those days) when I believe that those material things will make me happy and make my life perfect.

If I only had a bigger house with the perfect yard or that newer and nicer sport utility card, I would be just so content!

Oooohhh, I MUST HAVE those shoes, that fabulous new Kate Spade handbag, that necklace is just perfect, oh I need those expensive clothes for the minis (even though they will outgrow some that that currently have before they wear more than twice).

Me to husband: "If I could just have the entire Pottery Barn catalog to outfit that new, bigger house, I won't ask for anything again."

The list, conversations, thoughts, and scenarios could go on forever. We all want something else and covet what our friends and neighbors may have. "They have it, so should I or "That is the perfect ______...just what I need."

It can become an addiction, but if we sit back and think about all of those things that we have acquired thinking they will make us happy, we will realize that the "happy high" is short lived and then we are seeking that next thing.

We could get deep in this little thought process and idea, but let's not dive that far down and I am certianly not an expert on this.

I do know that we can all be rich. Rich in friends, family, health, love, and HAPPINESS.

Happy Weekend!