by Rich DuBose
“Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!” (Romans 12:16, NLT).
We live in a world that values the extraordinary over the ordinary. Nobody wants to be plain or simple. Because of this we are held captive by discontent and believe we are surrounded by ho-hum people and things. Media creates a hunger within us for bigger, better, unique, unusual, and extraordinary friends, jobs, vacations, careers, art, and entertainment. We cry, give us anything but ordinary.
Advertisers base their success upon how well they can make us feel left out, deficient, and lacking. The lines they feed us include, “Life is better with…” and “You’ll be happier if…”
Today’s slavery springs from someone convincing us that we need what we don’t have. And if they’re clever enough we’ll exchange our freedom for months and years of servitude in interest payments to a credit card or bank. Some things people buy end up costing them twice the sticker price when the interest gets added in.
If you want to get off the train that’s headed for discontentment and dissatisfaction, start celebrating ordinary people and things. Relish what many think is boring, mundane, and insignificant. Enjoy the everyday patterns of finding contentment with your life—with learning to enjoy and love the moment; with learning to show up and be present with your life as it unfolds.
Mow and water your grass with delight, instead of always thinking your neighbors grass looks greener and healthier than yours. Tell them their lawn is lovely and be grateful you get to look at it. Thank your mail carrier for delivering your bills.
Celebrate the hard realities of life and be grateful that you get to experience both the good and the bad, because that’s what life is made up of.
Be simple, be real, and be kind.
Rich DuBose writes from Northern California. Photo by Shlomaster, with Pixabay.
Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the New Living Translation (NLT), copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.