My 3 Monsters: Paradigm Shift

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1.24.2010

Paradigm Shift

The other morning I was flipping through a home furnishings catalog that had come in the mail and complaining to Brent about how shabby our home is and how I just won't be happy until it is finally "finished".  (Is any real person's home ever really finished?  Mine will never be, but that's a post for another day.)  Even as the words were spilling out of my mouth, I wanted to pull them back in and re-speak.  How lucky am I to have a home at all?  A home that I can afford.  A home with a roof that doesn't leak throughout 5 straight days of rain, a task that may never before have been required of it.  With a heater.  And a dishwasher.  And real beds.  For everyone.  We all have beds to sleep in.  With down blankets.  And guess what else.  You'll never guess.  We had food to eat yesterday.  Three times!  With snacks in between.  Fresh fruit and everything!  Home and food that we paid for out of my husband's paycheck.  The paycheck that just magically appears in our bank account on the first and fifteenth of every month.  Also, my kids go to school every day.  Fantastic public schools.  Some of the best in the state.  And when they get home they go outside to play with the neighborhood kids.  And I don't have to worry about them.  Because our neighborhood is quiet and safe.

Am I so ungrateful that I can disregard all those blessings in one fell swoop as I whine about how the bright red upholstery on my couches has faded and been used as a napkin by my children and the pillows aren't nearly as fluffy as they used to be?  Has it really come to this?!  I'm the Pretzel Girl my sister-in-law's family encountered in Disney's Animal Kingdom last year!!!!!!

Oh, no.  Not gonna' happen.  I love my home, with all it's flaws.  It has character like I do.  My interior designer mind will be ever spinning out new and better ways to adorn it, but that doesn't mean I can't love it in the mean time.  And make it warm and inviting, peanut butter hand prints on the couch and all.  I try.  I have been truly blessed and I can be happy without the cheese sauce.  Besides, I kind of like my pretzels plain.

3 comments:

  1. Oh, so well said. So well said!! Your post was a perfect example of something I learned today in Sunday School, which I won't go into because this would be way too long . . . but I am thankful for your example of gratitude--don't be surprised if you read a similar post on my blog soon.

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  2. Oh, and loved your s.i.l's story of pretzel girl. I want some cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

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  3. Amen. We are all so blessed. I find myself cycling through various levels of gratitude and acknowledgement of my blessings all the time. I find that the more I stay out of the stores, away from decorating magazines, and less time perusing beautiful design blogs and websites, the easier it is to be content with what I've got. But I can't always help myself...I just love to look at beautiful things.

    And to think that the Pretzel Girl has taught so many of us through her BAD example. :D

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