Through the World’s Eyes

Their concern was sincere. Their intentions were pure. Honestly, I appreciated their generous spirit. Someone recently pulled me aside and asked me if they could help buy something for one of my kids. Why? They assumed we couldn't afford it.

Again, very generous spirit! I get it, though. They've seen our house. They've seen our vehicles. They noticed my kid doesn't have the latest and greatest. In a town that runs on materialism, status, and showmanship, we look anything but wealthy. In fact, I think it would be easy to assess the cultural standard of living measuring stick and assume we struggle. In many people's eyes, we are anti-successful.

I'm not offended by this. It actually makes me realize we're living as intended. We don't care to be showy. We don't want to be materialistic. We don't pursue the approval of others. We simply live in accordance with our values. We invest our resources in three things: Mission, Memories, and Time. When we do that, our house might not be as big as others'. Our cars might not be as new as others'. Our clothes might not be as flashy as others'.

On the flip side, we can give away a significant portion of our income to help people. We can travel the world and make endless memories with our kids. We can pay for things that free up time for our family to spend more time together. Those are world-class investments in my mind.

Living a Meaning Over Money life draws eyeballs. It makes people look at you like you're a bit off.....because you are. You're weird. You march to a different beat. In the world's eyes, people who live for meaning are odd ducks. I like being an odd duck, and I LOVE other odd ducks. Fellow odd ducks unite.

____

Did someone forward you this post? We're glad you're here! If you'd like to subscribe to The Daily Meaning to receive these posts directly in your inbox (for free!), just CLICK THIS LINK. It only takes 10 seconds.