More Than Enough
“Look at all this stuff I got!” I said with a self-satisfied smile while displaying the clothes and shoes I’d bought from T. J. Maxx to my husband. I was excited about all the great deals I’d scored.
A few days went by. I found myself obsessing about clothes I’d seen at that store and still wanted to buy. I’d restrained myself the first time. They were things I liked for myself, but not necessarily needed. If I’d purchased everything I wanted, my bill would have been too big for our budget! But every item was such a great deal! Wouldn’t it be prudent to make the purchases now? What if I waited and then they weren’t around anymore?
Driving back to that same store a week later, I was almost relieved when I could no longer find the things that had caught my eye earlier. Relieved that the temptation to make a choice was gone. Relieved to discover that by not finding these items, I was suddenly free from thinking about them anymore.
The fact is I always want more: more books, music, clothes, camera lenses, and Starbucks. The more I get the more I want. Sometimes what I want isn’t just material items but better circumstances, like perfect kids and a comfortable life. I know intellectually that material items and perfect circumstances are not ultimately satisfying, but part of me always wants something that I don’t have—like an iPhone—for instance. And this part of me wars against the other side of me that longs to be content in simple daily living, happy with what I have.
I have to ask myself, How much is enough? Will I ever be satisfied, free from the never-ending longing for more?
How do you find contentment?
(Image: Ungrind.org)
I know discontentment will always linger in my heart. But, I have truly been blessed for this past year to live in a culture that is far less commercialized than the US. There is not a strip mall on every corner here. In fact, it takes a lot more effort for me to go to the shopping mall, so I just don’t go. I don’t get the Sunday paper with the hundreds of fliers of “good deals.” And perhaps best of all for my wallet, there is no Target around, so I don’t have a store where I walk in for one thing, and end up spending $100. It’s been refreshing to get out of the world’s progress for a time to see what my family truly needs and values (which is much less than it used to be).
Thanks for sharing that perspective, Rebecca. It must be interesting to be able to compare cultures in that way.
Wow, you should read my post from today; we’re on the same brainwave…
Good article Danielle.
Amen. It is ALWAYS good for me to read articles like this one, to remind me of my ungreatfulness, of my discontentment with what I DO have.
Thanks for the reminder and another great article!!!
OH, and I love P. Tripp. He’s good