All of us, at some point of our lives, crave for more. If only I had more money, if only I had more time, if only, if only...
We want more. More than we already have.
And in this pursuit for more, we inevitably compare ourselves with others. Oh, he just moved into a condo! Oh, she just bought a designer bag! Oh, they just went for a tour around Europe and dined at a three Michelin-stars restaurant!
Someone will stop me now and say, all these examples you have just given are with regards to material goods. But I am different. What I crave for are not material luxuries.
I acknowledge that. But the mindset of wanting more may appear in a different form. It has been said that millenials favour experiences over stuff.
A writer on The Gospel Coalition made this astute observation:
"I didn't know it, but my friend Katie told me that #fomo (fear of missing out) is a thing. And it makes sense. We're a generation of experience junkies who are terrified of missing out on anything. The thought of not being in that Instagram pic at X cool experience is painful. For many of us, our deepest need is to taste and try everything and travel everywhere."
For some, it may not be material luxuries or exciting experiences, but honour. Fame. The admiration of all your peers. While the good - tangible or intangible - may differ from person to person, that want for more is there. Still one word: more.
The fundamental question still remains: Why do we seek for more when we do not fully utilize and/or enjoy what we've got? We do not realise that as we crave for more, we are neglecting to make the fullest of whatever we already possess.
When we are stuck in the bitterness of covetousness, we lose that peculiar sweetness that comes with contentment.Jeremiah Burroughs puts it this way:
"Contentment is not always clothed with silk and purple and velvets, but it is sometimes in a home-spun suit, in mean circumstances, as well as in higher. Many men who once have had great estates, and God has brought them into a lower position have had more contentment in those circumstances than they had before. Now how can that possibly be?
Quite easily, if you only understood that the root of contentment consists in the suitableness and proportion of a man's spirit to his possessions, an evenness where one end is not longer and bigger than the other. The heart is contented and there is comfort in those circumstances.
But now let God give a man riches, no matter how great, yet if the Lord gives him up to the pride of his heart, he will never be contented: on the other hand, let God bring anyone into mean circumstances, and then let God but fashion and suit his heart to those circumstances and he will be content."
(First posted on simpleandelegantliving.com)