You Have Enough

 The American goal is to always get more and more. Americans are very good at excess. We are never satisfied with what we already have. We think we need just one more thing to make us happy. It is fun to get something extra sometimes. You don't want to go to the other extreme where you never buy anything that might make you happy. But at some point you have to say, "I have enough." Give up the rat race. The keeping up with the Jones'. Who cares who the Jones' are or what they think? 

It helps to have a hobby other then just getting more stuff. That was my Grandma's only hobby, getting more stuff. She would take her van down back alleys and pick up things that other people were throwing away. I actually have thought of doing that around my town on Thursdays. People can throw away some pretty good stuff, but maybe I already have enough. My grandma did her picking up stuff hobby so much that she filled up 3 houses totally full with just random stuff. It used to be that she would sell it all in garage sales, but then she stopped having the garage sales, but she kept getting more stuff. She also had 6 different houses. Clearly she never thought she had enough. But she grew up in an orphanage, so that somewhat explained her excessive love of stuff. 

I didn't think much of my grandma's habit as a kid, but as I got older, I realized it was a sickness. If you watch the show Hoarders, that was somewhat what my grandma was like. Her houses were clean, but there was just tons of stuff, and she wouldn't let it go. It was kind of cute though. When she would come visit us she would always bring a box of random stuff for us. Some of it was useful. That might be why she kept accumulating more stuff, just to make me and my mom happy. We were on our own for about 6 years. Maybe my grandma felt like she wanted to provide for us any way she could, and that led to her hoarding even more. 

One day my uncle showed up at one of her houses with a dumpster to throw a bunch of it away. To him it was all just junk. They had agreed ahead of time to do this. But when he got there, she changed her mind and chickened out. He never talked to her again after that. He didn't even come to her funeral 3 years ago. Talk about holding a grudge. He couldn't just let it go that that was what she wanted to do. We have to just let people be, don't we? You can't control others. If it makes you mad that you can't, oh well. Give up the desire to control others at some point. 

I didn't get why he cared so much. I guess he was just an overly controlling person. He could have helped her in other ways, like just talking to her more and trying to understand why she did that. But our family was never really there for each other. We had family get togethers but they were very fake. No one really opened up to anyone else. When we would eat, it would just be my grandma talking to all of us for an hour about random stuff. I guess she was one of those people who couldn't handle silence when other people are around. Despite all that, I always loved and admired my grandma a lot. I knew she was a bit crazy, but I figured all old women are crazy. :) She stayed married to my grandpa for 68 years. That was pretty admirable. 

I always wanted to be somewhat like her, in that she was strong. I have gone the polar opposite of her when it comes to stuff though. I was always more of a tosser then a hoarder. Now I am balanced and I neither toss things nor acquire a bunch of new things. I have turned into my step dad where now I just keep the same things for a long time. I have no desire to get rid of anything or get anything new. Except new rugs for my kitchen, that would be fun. :)

And the madness continues....lol jk

I hope you feel like you have enough. May God bless you with contentment in what you already have and may you stop chasing other things. May you finally learn to rest from the stuff race. 

Be blessed!