January 5, 2012

The Have’s and the Have-Nots


We are bombarded with advertisements demanding that we need to possess the latest and greatest of every item known to man. We have bought into this sentiment of need and greed to the point that we have become a throw-away society. We never seem satisfied with what we have, and we are always looking to the next item we can buy that will satisfy our need for the best, newest, or latest device.

We have come to look at want as a good thing. But I believe our desire to always want more leaves us unappreciative of our present state of being. While the division between our material and spiritual lives seems well-defined, this desire for always seeking more can bleed over into our spiritual life as well. Our hearts yearn for more love, better relationships, or connections with other people that seem unattainable.

All of this wanting leaves us empty and confused, and deeply unsatisfied; and in our quest to fulfill our emptiness we consume even more. We need to pause, and look not into the world outside ourselves, but deep within to find the satisfaction we seek.

The one person we travel our entire lives with is ourselves. Getting to know one’s self on a spiritual basis takes deep reflection and exploration to realize who we really are and what we need. This self-examination usually begins when a crisis of life occurs; something that challenges us to find the strength to go forward in our lives. Through the slow process of self-renewal, we gain the realization that our satisfaction must come from within ourselves. As we begin to grow an appreciation for who we are, we gain a better understanding of our place in this world.

We truly have been given all that we need to find our peace, but it is up to each of us to navigate our way through the ups and downs of life. By living with appreciation, gratitude and respect for ourselves we can take what we have and believe in the possibilities. We can find peace within ourselves when we live a life of gratitude, acknowledging our ‘haves’ and diminishing our ‘have-nots’.

The desire to want more is not a bad thing, if what we seek are the tools for living a good life.  Finding peace within ourselves is the first step. Through self-forgiveness and kindness to one’s self, we understand our humanness and our need to let go of past mistakes. Being kind and loving to ourselves goes a long way in what we bring to the world. When we find acceptance and appreciation within ourselves, we are able to carry this into the world we live in.

It’s the little things that matter most. Not what we have or what slice of life we have been given. We need to make our own peace, within ourselves, and this will carry us through the turbulent seas of life.


Seeking the help of our higher being, through consultation with our higher power, is the beginning of this reflection of self and the gaining of peace and contentment in our lives. 

No comments:

Post a Comment