Just a little more, please.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how hard (ok, impossible) it seems to be for us humans to be fully content with what we have. I don't think of myself as being very materialistic, so I wasn't really aware that this inability to be content is a problem for me until I noticed what inevitably happened to ALL of my if-I-win-the-lottery fantasies. (Ok, so the very fact that I entertain fantasies of winning the lottery--even though I never play the lottery--should have tipped me off.) The thing is, it doesn't matter how much imaginary money I win: it is NEVER enough. First of all, you've got to pay taxes. Then there's the 10% (or more) to give to charitable causes, after which we can pay off our debts, put away enough for all of our children's college educations, help my parents afford to retire... If you're a math whiz, you've already figured out that I need to have won a pretty sizeable lottery, and that's even before we trade in our starting-to-falter cars for shiny new ones. By the time I'm done, I've ended up feeling incredibly frustrated and--here's the good part--mostly glad that I don't ever bother playing the lottery.



This problem doesn't only pertain to money; I have similar issues with time. When I heard lately that one of my mom's friends had taken care of her grandchildren for several days, I thought, "That's so unfair! Why doesn't anyone ever volunteer to watch my children for even just a day? I'd be so happy with just a day!" Immediately I began to fantasize about what I would do for a day without my children in the house. I deliberately tried to aim low: no days at the spa for me, just time to do some of the things I'd like to do (sit and read in peace and quiet) or need to do (finally organize my closets). And guess what? Just as with my lottery fantasy, this one ended up with me feeling frustrated. Just one day without the children wouldn't even begin to give me enough time. I need more! More, more, more!



It doesn't necessarily sound like a big deal when I'm talking about my lottery and childless-for-a-day fantasies, but I actually think this whole thing is a huge deal. After all, it's what lead to the original sin in the Garden of Eden. Well, no, I think the original sin was much more complicated than that, but at least part of what was happening there was a play on Adam and Eve's inability to be content with what they had. They had paradise, they had a terrific relationship with God, they had each other, and still... that serpent was able to get to them by making them discontent with what they had. "There's this one thing you don't have, don't you think you should be able to have that, too?"



I deliberately practice being grateful for what I have, the material blessings as well as the many other blessings in my life, but it's not always easy. It's a hard thing to teach my children, too. They know that we have a lot, we talk about how most children in the world live, and I know they're grateful for what we have. Still, they have a lot of friends who have things we simply can't afford, and it's hard not to be sucked into wanting more, more, more!



I have a few little tricks that help me. I try to remember to thank God specifically for what I have (again, not just the material stuff), and I do my best to stay away from malls, because I've found that they breed discontent in me. How do you remain content? What tricks do you have?