Attached to Things

Why is it as Americans we are so "attached to things"? Our life would be so much simplier if we just managed to pair down and be satisfied with a roof over our head, good health and a little food on the table. I'm reminded today after a conversation I had with a woman who remembered me when I lived in the Philippines...that you don't have to be rich to have a good heart -- in fact, most people who are very poor have very big hearts.

What matters in life are not the things that we have but rather our health. As I drag around "Jordan" my oxgen tank, here in the Denver Mile High City, I realize that I have always thought the richest people in the world are those with good health. I'm not religious but I do remember that Christ said, "take up your cross and follow me" and somehow, we as Americans are not really doing that at all because we are attached to "our things." Which one of us can be like Mother Theresa? Can we sell all that we have and unburden our souls with the weight of a wasteful life? Things just hold us down from becoming the best we can be....we are not measured by the material things we have but rather by what we do in life.

If you're attached to "things" let them go -- measure your worth by how much you can let go and how much you can "give". Life is truly about giving and I don't mean in the material sense. I work at the Department of Veterans Affairs, commonly referred to as the VA. The other day, a man came off the street and was homeless and he asked for me by name. I was surprised because he came looking for a job. He said he heard that I "helped" people and was wondering how much help I would be able to give him. I gave him my "time" and you know what -- time is precious and I think I did my good deed for the day when I spent time with this gentleman. In the end, I helped the man write a resume, showed him how to muddle through all the government forms (what a maze) and then I ran off copies for him to just fill in and apply for various jobs. You would have thought I just opened up the world to him but what I did was give him "Hope" -- so you see that's really what we "give" is "hope" and "encouragement" to our fellow human beings who may be struggling and are less off than we are.

For me - I opt to "stop being attached to things" and "give" "hope" and my time to my fellow human beings. In the end...I will have considered my life to be very successful as a result. In a sense, I have my cross...and for today, I have been a good and faithful servant. How about you? Are you "attached to things?"