Use People Love Things

Mathew Kelly in his book the Rhythm of Life has a very poignant quote near the end of the book that I would love to share with you.

“We were meant to use things and love people. If we could live by these two simple principles of life we would be better off but unfortunately our society promotes a fasted passed world and therefore we have a tendency to love things and use people.”
When I read that I was enlightened.  So often this simple concept is something I strive to share with my clients but somehow it doesn’t always come out this articulately.

How often do we identify ourselves in the things we own? The car we drive, our clothes, the things we have in our home. We allow our lives to revolve around acquiring.  We have to work to pay our bills.  We have to work to get those things that we need, yet too often we work toward the things we want when our needs are not satisfied. We clutter our homes and our lives with things that don’t have the same meaning as the people in our lives. These economic times are causing us to really look at this concept.  If it hasn’t touched you yet it very well may.

When I was a little girl my family lost just about everything that we owned in a fire. We were poor, nearly homeless and stressed. My mother, God bless her, kept her faith. It was her faith and her belief that if we had nothing else we had each other that not only made us survivors but imparted a value that is instilled in me to this day many years later.

I believe that we must be cautious about what we allow in our lives.  Our global environment allows us to be exposed to so much, so many choices. It is perhaps our blessings and our curse to have the ability as humans to choose. Choose wisely with your time, your money and your things. I believe that all things come from our maker and we are to be good stewards of these blessings. We own only our choices, everything else is on loan from the Almighty. Love the people and relationships you have and with regard to things, bite off only what you can chew, anything else is gluttony…