As I arrived to work the other day, my coworker enthusiastically asked me, “How you doin’ this morning?”
With a certain amount of disengagement and sarcasm I replied, “I’m just livin’ the dream…”
Even though this was said jokingly, I guess there was a certain amount of truth behind it. Rather than seeing the extraordinary that was available to me to discover and appreciate that day, I resigned my self to settling for the ordinary, approaching the day with a mundane, listless ennui.
But for some people, the life I am living is in fact something they DO dream of—at least many facets of it. I have a great job that I am good at. I am appreciated by the company’s owner and respected by my coworkers and customers. I have an amazing, loving family and a wife who is my best friend. I’m blessed with close, God-fearing friends who love and appreciate me and my quirky ways. I’m lucky to live in a relatively nice home in a clean, safe community, surrounded by awe-inspiring mountains and open fields and by overwhelming evidence of God’s beautifully creative mind.
Although I may have days that feel as though I’m waking up at exactly six o’clock in the morning with “I Got You Babe” playing on the clock radio (just like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that), I’ve got so much to be grateful for. I might not be living the dream where I am sipping mojitos as I lay comfortably on a warm tropical beach, but it’s still a good dream that’s filled with unforeseen adventure, should I choose to see it. To not appreciate the life I have been given I think is insulting to God.
I need to remember to be grateful for the smallest of things. I must appreciate the good in my life, not focusing my energy and thoughts on the bad—what does it profit me? If measured out, the blessings I have overwhelmingly outweigh the hardships. While it isn’t a bad thing to have dreams and aspirations, to spend my days with “meh” as my catchphrase does me a disservice and robs me of the joy that can be found by lucidly living the blessing that might be someone else’s dream.
Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. – 1 Timothy 6:6-8
A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot. – Proverbs 14:30
“Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.” – John 14:27
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
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