Free of Greed

Greed is a grasping, grabbing and gluttonous mindset. Greed is that excessive desire for food, health, wealth, or popularity. Greed grows. It starts out with one small thought such as, “Now wouldn’t that be nice to have?” But then, that one small thought can turn into a way of life that messes up our lives. Nurtured greed tends to grow. 

Married to a carpenter who built million dollar houses, I toured some beauties. Summer “cabins” with cathedral ceilings and expansive windows showing off lake front views stirred a little covetousness inside me.  

Marble counter tops, walk in closets and master bedroom suites aroused my desire. “I’d like some of that please.”  

Like the cobbler whose children had no shoes, I was a carpenter’s wife without a master bath.

Oh, I knew living within our means was the wise thing to do. But still, why couldn’t we afford a house with two bathrooms instead of one? 

At times we discussed could my husband work less and earn more? Should I go to work? Could he make more money if he traveled to Alaska or South Dakota like everyone else was doing at the time? 

 But we always came back to the fact that chasing after the bucks was just that; chasing after the bucks. There were no guarantees that we’d actually make more. There were no guarantees for getting that master bath.

So I pursued a different pursuit. Contentment.

Contentment begins with being aware of our thoughts. Instead of lingering on what we didn’t have, I ruminated on what we did have. Training my brain to focus on the home we had changed my mind about what we didn’t have.

 Thinking about what I didn’t have and wanting what I couldn’t have led me down a path of discontentment, displeasure, and dissatisfaction. Contentment, on the other hand, nurtures a sense of gratitude, gratefulness and gladness. 

I’m no longer waiting for that second bathroom or the bedroom suite. We own our home, the kids are grown and gone and we have the whole place to ourselves. 

Why Bother?

Why bother being free of greed? Nurture greed and lose contentment.

Nurture contentment and be free of greed.