Over the last few months, many things have changed at the homestead. With the influx of loan money, we made improvements that we had barely dreamed of making. We now have a proper chicken coop, a fridge and oven, a roof on our porch, a tractor to plow our road - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Our quality of life has improved drastically. But we're beginning to see the curse in our blessing, because with each improvement comes the wanting.
The wanting, I realize, is a human problem. We're far from the only ones to suffer from this sickness. In fact, it's so common in this country that we have Black Friday to show us just how sick it has made us. The want is so bad, we will harm others in our pursuit of TVs and iPads. Harming another person for an electronic device is the ultimate sign of a sickness of spirit. Our suffering is not at that level, but it does show itself from time to time.
As soon as we can buy ( ) and ( ), we tell ourselves, things will be better. As soon as we own ( ), our life will be complete. But what about finding joy in the moment? What about counting our blessings, of which there are many? What happens if we never have ( ), or that it has to wait for a while? How do we retrain ourselves to live in our moment, instead of constantly wanting what we imagine is on the horizon? If we never reach the horizon, will we never have been happy? If we get there and discover that it doesn't look the way we expected or wished, can we adapt and find happiness in our changed reality? Can we put off instant gratification, in favor of the lasting joy that comes from patience and gratitude? How do we learn this, when our nature and culture teach us only The Wanting?
