Churches would have us believe that rapurous worship and community fellowship are the best things, especially if we give our time and money to work towards their goals in the process.
Airlines and travel agencies would have us believe that the best things can only be experienced on some far away beach and in the company of some alluring member of the opposite sex.
I've been sick since yesterday, although I am getting better now, and before that Isaiah was sick. You might think its odd to declare that the time to discover the REAL best things is when you are trapped at home with a sick eleven year old, but hear me out.
I don't have a fast car, I haven't traveled to exotic locations, most of my dishes are of the mismatched plastic variety. I am not alluring to the opposite sex, nor am I likely to attract one to myself. I have little money, a small apartment, and a busy job.
But I also have love in my heart and in my home. No amount of blind consumerism, exotic travel, or check writing can give a person that. I have three little sons who love me, and whom I love. I have brohters, who although they drive me nuts, also love me and do their best to be good brothers.
I don't have pictures I took in mexico or germany, but I do have pictures of carving pumpkins at my kitchen table. I don't have a fancy SUV, but I do have three of the cutest jack-o-lanterns in the state.
My life is not free wheeling, exotic, or exciting. Very few people go about their day thinking "I wonder what exciting thing Alley is up to today", but I have a richer life than many people whose lives are, on the surface, much more exciting and successful than my own.
What brought this on? you ask. A friend of mine. A woman Who was a very close friend in high school, but has grown distant since then.
She runs three internet bussinesses, she has a horse farm with horses, chickens, and ducks, she owns a little farm house and has two stupid dogs. This past august she went to europe on a business trip saw germany, paris, london. She owns a Cadillac escalade that she writes little songs to on facebook. this week she and her brother, also an internet mogul of sorts, are going on a cruise to mexico.
I responded to the post in a lite-hearted "I'm so jealous". And she was all "well I have all this freedom now because I don't have kids." and I realized, she believes that. She believes that I am seriously jealous and that I wish I had that. Thing is, I have a rich life and a full life that businesses and a farm and a nice car can't begin to match. I would like to travel and see europe, not so sure about mexico, but the adventure if raising three kids, having a full time job, completing another masters degree, is so much greater than anything I would find tromping around international tourist traps.
I am happy that my friend has the financial and personal freedom to flit off to mexico with less than a week to plan. I am happy she has been successful in her bussinesses and can enjoy horses, something she always loved as a kid. I wish he happiness and success with all my heart.
But despite the fact that many people look at my life and think its stressful, hard, lonely and tedious, I think that I have by far the better deal.
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