Things That I Have Been Learning Tuesday; It's all just stuff, why do we sweat it?
Every day I tell my clients that sometimes we never know why obstacles are put in our way, sometimes its for us to learn lessons, sometimes it is because the ones around us need to learn, and I guess sometimes, it is because things just happen. Sometimes life will just hand you some lemons and you decide, are you going to make the cliche lemonade or curl up and give up?
Lessons come in all different packages, and the past several months I have definitely learned a few lessons. One that I keep thinking about is the value we put on things. Eight months ago I lost everything that I owned, all my clothes, furniture, purses, dishes, books, everything...all gone. Of course I miss my stuff, I am human, I miss my nice things, I ran across this picture in my phone that I took a few years ago in my old home in Utah, before I moved back to Texas. I thought about the dishes in this picture. I love Pioneer Woman stuff, its kind of a guilty addiction. I had seen these plates years ago, they were so cheerful and happy and I wanted them. Dishes are expensive, and I work two full time jobs just to get bills covered so I do have to be careful with my budget. I worked and saved and got myself, a set of the dishes, and I used them all the time.
Did the new dishes make my food taste any better? No not really, but there was a satisfaction about having my life appear "put together". Why is it that we have those items, we all have them that make us feel like we have so called "arrived". For me it was having an extensive set of mix and match dishes so I could make my dinner table look pretty. Is there anything wrong with that? Not necessarily, but sometimes I got so caught up on that, I forgot to focus on the people and conversations that happened around those dishes. Sometimes we just really forget about the things that really matter, because we get lost in the "stuff" and making sure our stuff is keeping up with our neighbors' "stuff".
If you came to my home now its a hodgepodge assortment of stuff, it doesn't match, it is all fully functional, but nothing matches, You know what? It is okay that none of it matches, honestly if you were visiting my home, that means I have invited you into my world. Why do we have an illusionary world that we invite people into? Why are we always so hesitant to own up to our less than perfect surroundings? I am learning that the ones that really love me could care less about my dishes and far more about me, who I am, where I am heading and what I am feeling. That is definitely what we need more of.
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There wasn't much to see but destruction, but as I looked at the ground this photo was on the ground almost unscathed from the fire, This and two other photos is all that I was able save from my home. However, this photo has much more meaning to it than just that, farm more meaning and more lessons ago. Ten plus years ago I found myself starting over again after a divorce, hurt, lacking confidence and broke as a joke. I went to a ladies dinner at church and it was the fall season, and this quote was one of the quotes I got that night. That day I promised myself I would focus on gratitude and being content with what I do have. Sometimes these are the lessons we have to be reminded of again I suppose, as hear I am, a decade later recommitting to this way of thought.
I wish I could show you that I have all my ducks in a row, that I have perfectly planned meals and my home is spotless and I was the perfect hostess, but right now that just isn't who I am. Who I am is the person that will work my very hardest to get though the hard times. Who knows what the future holds? I don't know, but I am looking forward to it, and hopeful for something truly beautiful.
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