kick the creep

i've had a few conversations with friends about the frustrations of having limited funds.  we didn't imagine our lives quite like this…and yet, in so many ways, we couldn't have imagined our lives as blessed as they are! there are probably a few of us here who, at one time or another, have felt like we have less money than we would like to have.  christmas is one of the times when we can be especially vulnerable to the creeping feelings of not having enough.  (this is extremely relative…and painfully ridiculous in this world of refugees, slaves. and truly poor…yet, we are human…and unfortunately our feelings sometimes need more than a different kind of comparison for perspective.)

i've found it quite helpful and empowering to preempt this notion of not enough with the idea of choice.  if i decide that i want to live in a smallish home, i find that i am much happier there.  if i consciously choose to have a smaller, simpler wardrobe, i find satisfaction in what i have created.  if i decide that i want to have a simpler christmas,  i can find joy (and encourage it) in the simplest of things.  

if i decide that smaller, simpler, and less is what i want…that it is my choice…not what i am stuck with…i am much happier.  i find myself writing this today as a reminder to myself.  i have not found contentment to be a perpetual state of mind.  i am still susceptible to the mind creep of desire, feeling sorry for myself, and comparison…but less so as i practice. when i feel the creep, i can remind myself that i know my choice for simple and less is good. i am blessed.  it is enough.  it is very, very good.

love,
​jane