I have known people in my life who are addicted to toys and symbols of status. I have not struggled too much with status, but I have been ennamoured by my electronics. I have known the feeling that if I only had (fill in the blank) I will be so much happier.
Last night I got an update of my friend battling lung cancer. The doctors are now talking about the length of her life in months. Only time will confirm their accuracy.
My friend is one of the richest people I know. The wealth of her life is in her relationships. She is a person who has given tirelessly to others. And there are many people who care for her. People from many places are praying, encouraging and hoping for good news. These are the true gifts of her life.
You can encase yourself with stuff. You can look like you have the best that living can bring. You can surround yourself with all of it while you are dying. But it can't love you, it won't comfort you and it will never give you a damn thing back!
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It is funny what really makes you 'rich' in life. With our cable now gone...Greg and I have found the pacifier 'pulled out' as it were, and we're really having to open our eyes to what is important to us individually and as a couple. What makes us rich? What is true wealth? It's been really good and at the same time really hard.
More stuff goes out the door, more time is freed up...and curiously we don't really know what to do with it.
I've never really been one of those people who relied on material things. I think I got enough of that as a kid from my mother and then I saw a friend of mine who tried to buy herself a "new life" with her settlement from Ford...it all fell apart and she was miserable. It's true...things don't truly make you happy. They may excite you and fill a void for a time being but when the newness wears thin and there's a new product on the market what then? I'm loved...and I know this. And the more I work on my problems the more I realize how much that is really worth and how rich I really am. The funniest thing is I feel most rich because of my two fur-kids. My cats love me completely...and I love them. It's funny how much joy I get from loving them, too. (Not to say that my family and friends don't love me a bunch and vice versa...but when you know two little fur-kids are counting on you to take care of them and nurture them and love them...and you know you're doing a good job...it's a good feeling.)
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