What if you woke up and decided to be thankful for everything you have? What if you were thankful for not having the things you think you really need or want? What a feat that would be!
It seems that people generally wish for more. It's human. We all want to go to the next level in life. We all want to have the next thing: the most popular toy, the newest gadget, climb the next rung on the corporate ladder, keep up with the Jones' (marriage, childbirth, uhhhh what's next?). We are a progressive creation. I don't believe by any means that we were created to sit and mold and be complacent. I don't believe we were made to accept things that we know can be changed for the better. I for one, am not a person to sit back and allow the world to keep turning without getting in on the next hot topic. I don't necessarily have the means to always keep up with it all, but I can at least relate to it.
For some reason, our culture has ingrained in us that we aren't good enough being happy with our personal snapshot of life; life as it is right now. The mainstream media, hype, whatever you want to call it, has programmed our minds to believe and actually react to the fact that if we don't have the next thing or if we aren't in the next phase of life like everyone else, then there is somehow a bad connotation. Obviously, that is all relative to who you are and your frame of reference. But generally speaking, that's the norm in our society. I find that plumb stupid.
Why do we bow to that heap of nothingness? Why do we fall into that trap? So many reasons. I'd venture to guess that many of us do so because we are too weak to say NO. No to the fad-induced norms. No to the ridiculous ideas. This absurd mentality irritates me because kids will grow up believing this to be REAL and it's the furthest thing from the truth. Say YES to the fact that good things truly come to those that wait and prepare. Good things come to the diligent, not to the "cool".
Why not take a stand against what our world calls normal and stay the course and become who you are supposed to be?
As I was praying one night I was asking God to bless us, bless our finances, bless our marriage, bless this, bless that .... the obvious things we all want. The Bible says ask and you will receive ... I was just putting it into action! *smile* However, I really felt like God spoke in the middle of that prayer and He stopped me in my tracks. He said, "Why don't you become thankful for what you have and where you are? I have always blessed you and always will, but a true thankfulness of where you are and what you have is where the biggest blessings begin." Oh. Oops. I realized I had taken the foolish lead of my world, my surroundings and just asked for things. No, I didn't ask for a new car or heaps of money. I was just asking for the regular things in life. I've never been one to want all the new things that people flock to; but, I guess in my own heart I had forgotten that what I do have and where I am right now is where I need to be.
Sometimes we need a good, old-fashioned re-calibration in our minds. We need to forget the hype that surrounds us and be ok with the now, the present. It's a part of who we are and it's also a part of who we will become. So, hypothetically, what if we were thankful for our reality? Life is not a snapshot, no, but until we can embrace each snapshot, we will never be able to fully grasp or grow into our full potential. What if?
"Count it pure joy ..." NIV James 1:2a
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