Last night, while sitting on the couch during mommy wind down time, a commercial for a very popular luxury car came on. In the span of this 30 second commercial I went from mindlessly watching TV to being completely dissatisfied with my mini van. I wanted to go for a ride in this sleek, pearly white, mp3 playing, hands free calling, not kids friendly , luxury car (sigh). Then I got to thinking why? Why do I long to drive this car. It does not even fit my life. There is nothing wrong with my super sweet mini van. Who says what luxury is? Truth be told I feel beyond luxurious in the van we have, and it has nothing to do with the van itself. It has EVERYTHING to do with the two blond bomb shells sitting in the back seat and/or the smokin' hot man sitting in the drivers seat!When did satisfaction become a dirty word in our lives? I think we have become a nation of unsatisfied consumers that are always starving for something bigger and better. We really want to be satisfied, we just can't quite get there. But who told us what is better? What is wrong with what we have, or don't have for that matter? We have 5 chef knives. Why do we need 5 chef knives? Why do I feel the need to have a better one when the ones I have do the job well enough? Or even worse, why don't we get rid of three of them and take it down the the two best? Some how, without even realizing it, we are consuming so much that it is controlling who we are. It is controlling the home we live in, the car we drive, the stores we shop at, the jobs we work at...everything. We are becoming mall shopping, big box store buying, $6 cup of coffee drinking, over worked, mindlessly consuming drones. There is a great line from the poem Two Coats (Simplicity) by David Bowden that says “We would rather buy a sign that says 'live simply' then simply live without.” Jesus didn't tell the fishermen to drop their nets and he would make then super cool, latte drinking, tech savvy, hipsters. He told them they would be fishers of men, and it is super hard to love people when we are so consumed with all our stuff and how we can get even more.
With all this being said, my tip for today is be satisfied with what you have and you will save a ton more then just money. Maybe even push the mold and be satisfied with less then what you have. Close the magazine, turn off the TV, and stop buying in to all the hype. Because the truth is, in contrast to what the marketing companies tell us, no one has it all or has it all together.
Happy Savings,
Lynden
P.S. Please leave your comments below. Lets start a discussion about this. Also, feel free to share it.
P.S. Please leave your comments below. Lets start a discussion about this. Also, feel free to share it.
You are so right in every way possible. Yes, I see myself wanting that slightly better thing, or who knows if I will need another one on had kinda thing. But at the same point, it drives me nuts when some people only buy brand name!!! And if it isn't expensive than it isn't cool. Well, you know as well as I do, buying cheap, is hip and cool, lol. I so love the way you look at things. I love shopping cheap, thrift stores, sales racks or clearance, and I really think, even if I were rich, I would still shop that way, might just buy a little more of it, lol
ReplyDeleteFor sure Jodi! While I don't like to buy cheap things I do love a good quality idem at a great price. Thift stores, clearance racks,...ect. are great ways to find bargens. Some times I just get this feeling of do I really need any of it at all??? What is driving me do buy buy buy? I think we have all become materially fat. If we don't start to purge ourselves, our lives, our homes, we may just explode.
ReplyDeleteOk, so I have to admit that I am one of "those" people. I LOVE Express skirts and Victoria's Secret underwear. I believe that there are many times where you get what you pay for. But, there are many times where everything is really just the same thing just with different labels. And today I am beyond thrilled with my Meijer brand jeans that I got for $12. We are blessed and it is always great to be reminded to be thankful! I love your blog!!
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