MY THINGS, gratitude, day 28

I am so grateful for my car. I know that in the spirit of gratitude this month I have really been pushing the idea of  being grateful for things beyond our possessions and for the deeper intention of living from a place of bigger perspective. But that doesn't exclude the importance of being appreciative for the little things that make our life easier, ESPECIALLY when so many other people have so few of these amenities. An abundant life will experience seasons of ease and discomfort and I hope that we can all realize that there is certainly a great merit that comes with living in gratitude for the things that we have. Being grateful creates a certain sense of being responsible with the stewardship to which you have been appointed. Taking care of your possessions is a good practice for how you will take care of other people's possessions and for how you will handle bigger responsibilities of stewardship in your relationships and careers. But here is the sticky balancing act we face: We must care enough about our things to be good masters of our domain but we must also make peace with  being flexible with the flow of these amenities in and out of our lives. Balance comes in being able to appreciate the presence of material stuff in our lives and then to continue to live in gratitude and serenity when they show their fleeting colors and disperse. I can appreciate my material blessings without clinging to them as my source of identity or joy. It is in the times when I forget that my possessions are just things that I feel my vision darken with the struggle that comes from  desperately trying to maintain those things before maintaining my relationships. It is a priority issue. People are more important than things. Our spiritual lives are more tangible then our material experiences. And at the end of the day, you can't take any of it with you. As Seinfeld said, "It all goes back in the box".  Because my friends, this much is evident: this world is ready to strap on as many "things"to your back as you will allow and it will bloat your belly with its stuffings until you scream "no more!". It will celebrate your consumerism and pat you on the back for supporting its materialism and  then it will feign  surprise when your knees begin to buckle under the burden your bear. But it will not stop to pick you  up when you fall and its parade will continue to march on without you. It is the wealth of our relationships that will bring solace and comfort when the merriment of material musings are no more. Who are your friends? And how much have you invested in them? I ask myself this same question and I know that i must spend more time on people then on collecting things. Things will not hold my hand at the sunset of my day or of my life. People are the treasures worth investment. So yes, I am grateful for my car. It is cute, it is sporty, it is fun, it gets me where I need to go. But I didn't always have it and I did just fine. I can think of several people who were with me before the cute car and who will love me when it is gone. And THAT makes me very grateful.