“Every generation laughs at the old fashions, but follows religiously the new.” ― Thoreau
So why not just laugh now? – G
“If we do not feel grateful for what we already have, what makes us think we’d be happy with more?” — Unknown
Recently I posted a picture of myself in my kitchen, and I immediately started receiving generous messages from people wanting to help me “update” it. Along with their messages came pictures of how my kitchen could look, if I’d just put some effort and money into it.
I’ve always loved my kitchen, but after seeing those pictures I found myself looking at it through new, critical eyes. Maybe it was all wrong. Maybe the 80’s counters, laminate cabinets, mismatched appliances and clutter really were mistakes I should try to fix. I stood and stared and suddenly my kitchen looked shabby and lazy to me. I wondered if that meant I was shabby and lazy, too. Because our kitchens are nothing if not reflections of us, right? I decided I’d talk to Craig and make some calls about updates.
But as I lay down to sleep, I remembered this passage from Thoreau’s Walden: “I say beware of all enterprises that require new clothes and not a new wearer of the clothes.” Walden reminds me that when I feel lacking- I don’t need new things, I need new eyes with which to see the things I already have. So when I woke up this morning, I walked into my kitchen wearing fresh perspectacles. Here’s what I saw.
You guys. I have a REFRIGERATOR.
This thing MAGICALLY MAKES FOOD COLD. I’m pretty sure in the olden days, frontierswomen had to drink warm Diet Coke. Sweet Jesus. Thank you, precious kitchen.
Inside my refrigerator is FOOD. Healthy food that so many parents would give anything to be able to feed their children. Not me. When this food runs out, I’ll just jump in my car to get more. It’s ludicrous, really. It’s like my family hits the lottery every freaking morning.
THIS CRAZY THING IS A WATER FAUCET. I pull this lever and CLEAN WATER POURS OUT EVERY TIME, DAY OR NIGHT. Mamas everywhere spend their entire day walking miles to and from wells just for a single bucket of this- and I have it right here at my fingertips. I’m almost embarrassed to say that we also have one of these in each of our two bathrooms, and one in the front yard with which to WASH OUR FEET. We use clean drinking water to WASH OUR FEET. Holy bounty.
This is the magical box in which I put uncooked stuff, push some buttons, and then a minute later- pull out cooked stuff. It is like the JETSONS up in here.
This is my medicine cabinet. Since my Lyme is in remission and each of my babies is healthy- there is nothing in here but vitamins and supplements and tea. Thank you, God. This medicine cabinet is a miracle to me. Every time I open it I feel like I should kneel down and kiss the ground. I have an inbox full of letters from mothers whose medicine cabinets look very different.
Speaking of ground- this is our kitchen floor. It’s not fancy, but it’s perfect for our most important kitchen activity: DANCING. When Chase was three a librarian asked a roomful of kids, “what do we do in the kitchen?” Everyone else called out “cook” or “eat!” But Chase yelled “DANCE!”
I can’t even talk about this thing. Actually, let’s take a moment of reverent silence because this machine is the reason all my people are still alive. IT TURNS MAGICAL BEANS INTO A LIFE-SAVING NECTAR OF GODS. EVERY MORNING. ON A TIMER.
And look you guys: LOOK. This is the kitchen corner where I keep all my kids’ school stuff. My kids go to a FREE school with brilliant teachers and a loving administration and they’re SAFE there. The school sends flyers home about PROGRAMS and CLASSES and CLUBS to make my kids’ hearts bigger and softer and their brains sharper and their bodies healthier. This corner reminds me everyday that my kids have at their fingertips what so many around the world are giving their lives for: quality education. When I wear my perspectacles I can’t look at this corner without a heart explosion.
My perspectacled kitchen tour taught me two things this morning: I’m insanely lucky and I’m finally FREE.
In terms of parenting, marriage, home, clothes – I will not be a slave to the Tyranny of Trend any longer. I am almost 40 years old and no catalog is the Boss of Me anymore. I am free. I am not bound to spend my precious days on Earth trying to keep up with the Joneses- because the Joneses are really just a bunch of folks in conference rooms changing “trends” rapidly to create fake monthly emergencies for us. OH NO! NOW IT’S A SUBWAY TILE BACKSPLASH WE NEED! No, thank you. Life offers plenty of REAL emergencies to handle, thank you very much.
I’m a grown up now. I know what looks good on me, and that doesn’t change every three months. I know how I like my house. I like it cute and cozy and a little funky and I like it to feel lived in and worn and I like the things inside of it to work. That’s all. And for me – it’s fine that my house’s interior suggests that I might not spend every waking moment thinking about how it looks.
Sometimes it seems that our entire economy is based on distracting women from their blessings. Producers of STUFF NEED to find 10,000 ways to make women feel less than about our clothes, kitchens, selves so that we will keep buying more. So maybe freeing ourselves just a little from the Tyranny of Trend is a women’s issue – because we certainly aren’t going to get much world changing done if we spend all of our time and money on wardrobe and kitchen changing.
BUT. Listen. I’m nothing if not a tangled, colorful ball of contradictions. I like a good make-over as much as anybody else. So . . . HERE WE HAVE IT. HERE IS THE MELTON KITCHEN MAKEOVER FOR YA! READY FOR THE BIG REVEAL?
Before:
After:
Ba- BAM! Extreme home makeover! My kitchen IS beautiful because it is full of beauty. SO IS YOURS.
Today I shall keep my perspectacles super-glued to my face and feel insanely GRATEFUL instead of LACKING and I will look at my home and my people and my body and say: THANK YOU. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU. THIS IS ALL MORE THAN GOOD ENOUGH, ALL OF IT. Now. Let us turn our focus onward and outward. There is WORK TO BE DONE and JOY TO BE HAD.
Love,
G
Author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller LOVE WARRIOR — ORDER HERE
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2,233 Comments
Love this article.Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you for this post! You are so right and such a talented writer too!:)
You, sir, are bloody brilliant. Just brilliant. Thank you.
Thank you! I just realize that I need to thank for what I have, not to ask for what I haven’t had.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I know many mothers, including myself, needed to hear this today!
This could be one of the best blog posts I have ever read in my life. You really nailed it. Thank you for a fabulous reminder of how wonderful and blessed our lives are!
That’s what I just wrote on my wall!!!
YES YES YES!!! Beautiful.
As I wipe the tears of gratitude and laughter from my face I thank God for all I have including this moment and your wonderful writing! I live my perspecticles too!
I LOVE this article. This is the first time I have ever commented on anything online.
Thank you so much for this beautiful essay. I am going to take a picture of my kitchen, too!
Marvellous post. Sorry about spelling error in last response.
Flipping marvellous pistol.
The best home makeover I’ve seen!
Thank you, my dear. I loved this so much. I shared it on my fb page. How can I subscribe to your blog or other posts?
Great article. Thank you very much for the attitude changer.
Normcore.
Hey! Your kitchen looks just like my kitchen! Thank you for letting me borrow your perspectacles. I’m getting my own pair, I was so enlightened. God bless you and your lovely kitchen filled with lovely family.
This was so encouraging. My entire house “needs” updating, but I love it just the way it is. Yes it would be nice to have new stuff, but not nice to have new debt.
I have way to much medicine in my cabinet but you have just reminded me that my baby has a chance because of it and I’m not so sick of my medicine cabinet anymore!
beautifully written. thank you for this perfect perspective. i am sharing it on my facebook wall, because i want everyone to read it. i’m glad you have found freedom. peace to you and yours.
WOW! Just what I needed today it should make us all stop and think. I am SO grateful for all the things in my life, But most of all my family the place we gather most often is……where else the kitchen now I will see it with perspectacles. Bless You!!!!
I so appreciated what you had to say!!! Contentment is key to happiness in life. Being content with what we already have and are blessed with. Such a novel idea!!! Thank you for reminding me that just having a home should make me thankful and the people and memories that I make in that home are truly a gift.
This is the first post of yours I’ve read but i promise you not the last… Thank you! This is a beautiful post. I live with my husband and poodle in 708 square feet of house that I love but when friends come over I always feel like I need to apologize for not having a formal dining room and only having one restroom and well having (gasp) peel and stick vinyl floors that my husband worked his heart out on so I could have them on the diagonal. But you know what? I love that house. It’s… Home! I’m safe there. Something I’d never felt at my last house. So I’ll stop apologizing and just enjoy my little piece of tranquility
You did SUCH a good job in responding to the “helpful hints”. The next time I have an attack of the “envies” I will use this piece as a meditation to remind myself of my blessings 🙂 Grace and peace to you, G!
Gratitude is the attitude!
I love this post. Thank you for reminding me to be grateful for exactly what I have.
Thanks very much for the loan of your pespectacles! I may be stopping in to borrow them when the imp Discontent creeps in again. 🙂
I once read (I don’t recall where) that debt was using money we don’t have to buy things we don’t need to impress people we don’t like. When I was growing up redecorating consisted of purchasing new kitchen curtains (if needed) at Christmastime. It boggles my mind when watching HGTV I see people displeased with a perfectly good kitchen (or bath) who state it is a “total redo”. I thank you for your article because it reminded me of values we used to have.
I love this article. I laughed out loud several times. My home was built in the 60’s, we bought it in the 90’s. My kitchen is a pumpkiny shade of orange and squash yellow. My cook stove is circa 1940’s. BUT. It’s a happy place to be. I have a window by the sink where I wave to neighbors as they drive by. We cook, can, wash dishes, and dance and sing. And that is what matters.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! This brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye in spots! So spot on for my house!
“IT TURNS MAGICAL BEANS INTO A LIFE-SAVING NECTAR OF GODS. EVERY MORNING. ON A TIMER.”
Laughed out loud. Thanks for the perspective.
Thank you ,thank you,thank you !!! What an amazing post you have written -it brought a smile to my lips and I could not help nod my head in agreement to absolutely everything you wrote.
Our ’72 kitchen actually looks ’60’s. But it functions well. We do the “Count your blessings” self-talk whenever we think of costly remodeling. I like to talk to people about their memories of grandmother’s kitchens. Some have great-grandmother stories. Talk about bare necessities! Many of the homestead farm houses were 2 rooms. Wood or coal cook stoves, tin pan sink, carried water, cooler in the dirt/dug-out basement with all the prep work on the “kitchen” table.
I’m gathering everyone in the kitchen this Thanksgiving and reading this!
This made me very happy. I feel this pressure too even though I’m a single man with no children. Everyone feels this way
So enjoyed reading this. We just finished repainting our kitchen and the cabinets and I was thinking we need new counter tops. No more. I made a picture of some jelly I’d made one day this week and noticed how nice the white counter tops looked with the light tan kitchen wall in the background. I still wasn’t sure but now? I love my white counter tops and they’re already installed and paid for. Thank you for your post and for reminding me how blessed I am….Everyday.
Thank you thank you thank you. I have a 70s kitchen. I always apologize for it. I will not do that anymore! When my family and friends are here guess where we all end up ? That’s right. My old kitchen. And I will no longer apologize for the old ripped couch in my living room. The cats love it and you can sure tell. But I love my pets more than I love things. So it stays! My family and friends love my house. It’s comfortable. We dance in the family room! All of us at once. It’s a little cramped. And we spill things when we are a little tipsy. But I can always clean the carpet later. The important thing is that we are all having a good time and not worrying about dumb things like rings on the furniture. I’ve had the same furniture for years. I love every scratch, stain and ring. My son ruined a nightstand with candle wax. He died last year. I treasure that ugly table.
Glennon and Lisa – Thank you just doesn’t seem enough to express how grateful I am for your words – and they are timely too! About a year ago we had to get a new recliner for our living room. The previous one had given us 16 years of dedicated service but had deteriorated to the point that sitting in it caused by husband to be in constant and severe pain (he has arthritis in his low back). At the time we were blessed with four feline kids. The furniture store we went to was having a 2-for-1 sale on recliners and a serious discount on any other pieces purchased at the same time (read serious inventory reduction sale!). We were able to get two recliners and a love seat. We chose leather over fabric because of the “furkids”. My husband’s chair now has two slight discolorations on the right armrest – one from falling asleep with the TV remote in his hand and one from becoming seriously involved in a TV show while holding a cup of hot coffee. There are also some scratches on the edge of the seat cushion from cats jumping up to sit on their dad’s lap. All of this used to bother me so much. After all, this chair was high quality leather! Can’t everyone just respect that and be more careful? Now, my chair has 3 scratches on the seat from earlier this morning when our Maine Coon cat Fluffy jumped up on the seat and found our calico Celia already occupying it. She started swatting Fluffy to let him know SHE was already there and he was more than welcome to leave! My husband’s only regret – he did not get the “encounter” on video! The loveseat also has a story. A few months ago our 15-year old tortoiseshell tabby, Angel Rose, jumped to the top of the back cushions for a nap. One of her claws dragged a bit and left a scratch on the front of the cushion. That bothered me too – quite a bit in fact. After reading your words I now see things a bit differently. My husband still talks about how much he loves his chair since he can sit in it for hours with no back pain. The cats love it as they can sit on their dad’s lap or by themselves in it and take a deep (and safe) nap. As far as the “encounter” in my chair – I wish I had seen it! Fluffy was an unneutered stray who adopted us 6 years ago after he developed a serious case of the hots for Celia (spayed as a kitten). He was skin-and-bones then and is now a well filled out Maine Coon boy. As for the love seat – thanks to it we were able to bring a corner octagonal table in from the garage that had belonged to my husband’s beloved mother. That table fits perfectly in the corner which had previously been filled by one end of a full length sofa. There was no room for a table next to that sofa so the lamp table was in front of it (read no one could ever sit on that end). As for the scratch on the front of one of the cushions – our Angel Rose went to the Rainbow Bridge about a month after the scratch was made. It is now something we can touch and remember how lucky we are to have enjoyed 15 years with our feisty fur baby. Scratches and discolorations can be viewed as “damage” or triggers for loving memories and appreciation for our many blessings. One other benefit – under the previous furniture arrangement I could not sit next to my husband while we watched TV. Now I can and do every day!
WAIT. You have OLD BAY in your medicine cabinet? You are my kind of woman.
WAIT. You have OLD BAY in your medicine cabinet? You are my kind of woman!
I’ve often said, “If I spend my entire life writing and manage to make a difference in the eyes of just ONE person, then I can consider myself a success!” You, my dear, are a huge, roaring success!
I LOVE this. I NEED this. THANK YOU!
you are amazing… so young… so wise… 🙂
Great article, really. But not a fan of the CAPS LOCK AT ALL. 🙁
Seriously? Some people… must find SOMETHING to complain about.
Fabulous post!
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing, and for the reminder to be GRATEFUL and THANKFUL for the IMPORTANT things in life!!! Loved reading this!! 🙂
Best post ever!
I am a person that LOVES to redecorate! I LOVE your kitchen! AS it is! Your appliances match, that is a luxury. Tile counters, floors and backsplash, Awesome! NO DEBT!!!!! THE BEST!!! I have always liked the challenge of holding to a tight budget to re-do something, I know wonderful ideas come from tight funds, People don’t hate on your neighbors because they are not yet comfortable in their own skins and need to spend money on labels and trends. They will catch up eventually. Just be grateful you have made it to that point so much earlier than them and lead by example. Keep it clean, healthy, fun, and FULL of love!
Ok, I just ‘met’ you, and I just fell in love with you. AWESOME mindset!!!
As I sit here agonizingly reanalyzing our recently renovated living room and second-guessing every detail of my choices the color combo/furniture choice/accessory decision/etc/etc/etc … I read your post.
Ahhhhh …. Your voice of reason breaks through my mind clutter.
Thank you! I will bookmark this post and read it frequently and in the meantime I’ll immediately put on my newly invented perspectacles and be thankful and abundantly satisfied with all of the blessings the Good Lord has provided me.
This is wonderful. I always feel the need to apologize for my kitchen when people come over. I tell them we’re planning on re-doing it when we get the funds to do so. I won’t be making excuses anymore. I’m going to choose to focus on all of the things that you did, that we have food and clean water. Thank you for the beautiful reminder that we don’t NEED the latest and greatest whatever it is, and to always focus on an attitude of gratitude.
Amen. Amen, amen, amen. And oh yeah…….AMEN. This article is a keeper.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for that! Sometimes I feel like I am all alone in not wanting to pour all of my time and money into creating someone else’s vision of the perfect house. It’s great to know that someone else feels the same way.
This is the best post ever! Its so good to look around and be thankful for all I have and not covet what I don’t. Thank you and God bless!
Simply beautiful. I love the perspective.
Thank you, I needed that! :-*
Through my tears I say “This is the best blog EVER” Ever , ever, ever.
I will remember this every single time I allow myself to be bothered by the comments of others.
My son is having a party this weekend. I actually got concerned about the worn sofa I have refused to replace because “I don’t feel like wasting the money”.
Terri
Beautiful post! Thank you for supporting my efforts to view my life through the perspectacles of “more than enough” and joy!
I love your kitchen! My family is debating remodeling ours, but only because the counter tops are tiled, and food and other ick gets down in the grooves between the tiles and it’s difficult to keep clean. We don’t have a magical Jetsons-like food box, but we also don’t want one. Otherwise our kitchen is every bit as wonderful and blessed, and I was glad to read this because it was an excellent reminder to be thankful for the good things that are, and not to forget them because I’m spending all my time pining for “better.”
Spot on. We do the Curly Shuffle on our kitchen floor. Good trends never get old.
Wonderful perspective on being happy & grateful for what I already have.. Inasmuch as I would love a new kitchen .. I count my blessings that I am able to do whatever I want to it and that is to keep it clean and produce an array of fresh healthy meals for my family every day e specially all those fresh vegetables that I’m able to walk outside to my garden and choose! Thank you for this poignant reality check ! MRSB
Wonderful perspective, once those kiddos are gone you will likely have enough time and money to do it if you want to.(I just redid my 70’s kitchen last year now that I’m an empty nester).
Lisa, I think you may have missed the point…
I think your kitchen is beautiful and miraculous! I have always said that you can tell a lot about a home by the things on the fridge. We just redid our kitchen, not because anything was wrong with the kitchen but because of a safety issue with the furnace built into the kitchen space (we have no basement) . It required tearing out a kitchen wall and well you can see where this is going. But, we reused everything we could and repurposed second hand cabinets. And I love my kitchen. Not someone else’s idea of beautiful, but I like being in it and it is easy to use. I wouldn’t change anything in your kitchen. Oh, and I dance in my kitchen also …. With so many people having so little, how can we not be grateful for what we have?
Thank you for introducing me to the word perspectacles and for reminding me never to take them off. but most of all thank you for reminding me that akitchen floor is for dancing! Now… where are those kids…?
Today is the one-year anniversary of the death of my friend’s teenage daughters. They died tragically in a car accident last year. Today, as I remember them and lift my friend, her husband and her remaining daughter up in prayer, I am grateful to you for giving me the word “perspectacles,” and a fresh perspective to go with it. No feelings of “less than” or “not enough” today.
Thank you for sharing. Love this!
Absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Your article made me feel so humbled I have tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat. Thank you for making me happier.
This made my day! 🙂
A dear friend sent me this piece saying she was thinking of me when she read it. Reason being? I am a humanitarian missionary living in the Democratic Republic of Congo for 18 months. Yup….these ladies here leave their homes at 3 a.m. to go to a stream to collect water (not clean water) in 60 lb bidons that they carry (on their heads…all the while fighting off rapists) 3-4 miles back to their huts. For their one meal a day they cook fufu on their charcoal burner in their kitchen?…(read outside their hut). A refrigerator what’s that? Do I miss my conveniences? I do, but I love these smiling, wrinkled, toothless, overworked 50 year life expectant women more. Thank YOU for the reminder of how great we have it in the USA.
I find it hard to believe that people could want to make over someone they don’t even know. Thank you for your wise words and your insights.
Over here we even use drinking water to flush the toilets with – that’s right, flush toilets. How much of a waste of precious resources is that?
Thank you for putting my day on a good track today.
love this. love this. love this. thank you…
Amazing. It brought a tear to my eye and a smile to my face.
I think your kitchen looks fabulous! A room that is full of love and fun. I like your outlook on life 🙂
Dear God this is beautiful!
I wish I could keep up with the Jones’… my neighbors, that is. They decorate their new home with everything they had or got free by refurbishing & reusing. Their cottage home looks sooo cozy… which makes me a little envious.
you know…i loved ever sentence of this post. I live in a very trendy neighborhood by accident and its near impossible to keep up with the “Jones”. I have to constantly remind myself that I am grateful for everything I have and I don’t need anymore than what I got. Thank you for reminding me once more!
Thank you so much, brought tears to my eyes. We live in quite a run-down old gas station, ugly, leaky, – but fulfills all my family’s needs for peace, space, stability, and warmth. I can look at it anew and see retro, funky, sunny, and a bit quirky like us. As for your comment about water, we rely on water from off the roof which fills our tanks. During a drought I was watching every drop as our tanks fell lower. Over winter as they fill to overflowing, I can appreciate running water and showers without worrying.
“IT TURNS MAGICAL BEANS INTO A LIFE-SAVING NECTAR OF GODS. EVERY MORNING. ON A TIMER.”
Hallelujah sister!!
Thanks for normalizing my desire to NOT keep up with trends until/if/whether one suits me.
Wow. Lady you really know how to tell it like it is. Thanks for the reminder.
Great read! Thanks. We all need to put on our ‘perspectacles’ often, look around and count our blessings.
I love you kitchen and the article. Its insane to watch the design or home shows because all they do is try to get everyone to have the same thing. I hate granite, and have it unfortunately, it pits. I don’t like stainless steel, not a warm cozy color but again I have that too. Came with this rental. I love tile, you can get creative. Everyone is different and big business tries to make us feel less than by trying to get us to update everything at least every 3 years. No thanks.
Ok, gratitude aside, I really like the style of your kitchen!
Well said. What a wonderful article!
Love you for writing this, and making me at peace again with the fact that I’d rather spend time playing with my son, rock climbing, going to friends’ music gigs, drawing little animals, and enjoying wonderful moments at our home, as it is!
It’s a lovely kitchen!
I love this post. Such a great reminder to appreciate my many blessings. Sometimes I feel like I should have a nicer, fancier house since I am in a higher socio-economic class than my Mom was. When I was growing up we appreciated the little joys of life. We knew our friends liked us for us -NOTour money since we didn’t have enough to impress others. Now it seems the co-workers I had spent so much time discussing the exact shade of their new paint or curtains, etc. I Iike nice things but I so much more enjoy “being real” with my friends and family. My hang up-not theirs. I loved it when I lived in the Army barracks and the college dorm. A room and a bed for each person. We talked about ideas and just spent time enjoying each other’s comany. Even my plumber thinks our counter tops are tacky. So what? As long as the sink drains well I am hapy. lol. GREAT POST! I plan to save it to re-read for when I start thinking I should work to get something I don’t really want just because someone else has it. 🙂
As I embark on purchasing our 1970’s house that is ripe for renovation I indeed will be putting on my Perspecticles as you say. The best part of my new house will not be granite counter tops or stainless appliances or what type of floors but the people that live in the house and the family and friends that comes to visit once we’ve settled in! Also, a full pantry and refrigerator that works. Adjusting my perspecticles!
Mrs T
I loved reading this to the point,yet funny at the same time.
What’s wrong with that kitchen?? It looks like it’s got some pretty cool retro chic going on 😉
I LOVE this! As a person with access to clean water and cold and hot food, and as a fellow kitchen dancer, I wholeheartedly agree.
Thank you for sharing this and for doing so articulately.
I love the blog. You are so right and quite eloquent. Thank you for writing this and posting today! You have a beautifully bountiful kitchen!
THANK YOU!! I have been watching too much Hgtv.I cannot afford a kitchen makeover and have been feeling bad about my original 1986kitchen, with my1999 stenciled violets and pansies,which I used to love.Before 1999 I didn’t own a house.I am greatful for my house.thank you God for my house.
Boy that really hits home. I almost felt like crying. You speak the truth.
Thank you. I will try to read this frequently and count my blessings daily
Thank you for putting it so beautifully.
Thank you! Beautiful reminder of what is important.
Thank you thank you thank you!!!! You totally said it! And the Ba-Bam pic at the end with your beautiful family was absolutely the best 🙂
I think your kitchen looks great! I agree with all your points. My kitchen isn’t fancy, but I like it and everything works and it’s full of food. How blessed we are!!!
Carpe kairos!! That’s awesome! My perspectacles tell me I need that sign.
Thank you for sharing your story. I, too, feel this exact way as I get older and my kids are leaving home. They’re not going to remember what outfit I wore to their school play but that I was there. And I agree that my kitchen is updated perfectly when my whole family is sharing a meal together around the kitchen table. Being grateful for all we have is the best way to start my day.
Hey, thanks for bringing me back down to earth, I will look around with different eyes. I will no longer what I have and give for what I don’t have. I am lucky enough to be married to my oldest friend, and dispite his injuries in Vietnam, and the bad doctors that tried to take take life, he Is alive and will keep getting better. And, our combined 12 children are all alive an thriving and most of them are speaking to us. We are blessed.
I completely agree with your overall message about “stuff” and want to make an alternate point about the feedback you first received.
In your previous mention of your kitchen, I think you said something along the lines of “pay no attention to my kitchen” which draws people to pay attention to your kitchen and makes them think you aren’t happy with it. My guess is that some of the people who offered to help you update your kitchen were perhaps just trying to connect with you in a way that works for them – something they feel they are good at as a skill and wanted to share with you to help. It may have been less about the stuff for them and more about their skill and desire to connect as a friend.
Really enjoyed your post. Gratitude for what we have is the way to go. Just one note, education in America is not free. We as a society have chosen to pay for it through taxes so we don’t feel the payment immediately, but we do pay for it.
Jacque, thank you for mentioning that public education is not free! It is extremely expensive and recognition of the high cost improves the likelihood that the money will be spent more wisely, for the sake of the schoolchildren as well as taxpayers.
Yes, our tax dollars pay for public school grades K-12. However for the children going to school they are able to attend without their parents paying like a private school system as in many other countries. No child in America is denied an education whether they have money or not.