I Want That!

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Not to want.
Hello. My name is JP and I am a guy who suffers from wanting. (It feels good to get that off my chest) A friend put it well the other day saying I am "discontent by nature". I always want more...more money, a newer car, a better job, a bigger house...etc... Sales organizations love me. They say I am driven, focused, motivated, and determined...hmm...words for my resume.

My "wanting" often plays out like this...I need a new pair of tennis shoes. I focus time and energy in researching the latest and greatest shoes on the market. It's fun. I am excited. I look online to see what kinds of deals I can get on the pair that I want. I purchase them. YES! I got my shoes! I wear them. And then, I put them with the last three pairs that I needed and bought. When it's just shoes I get off easy. When it is a 1970 Cadillac Coupe DeVille Convertible...not so easy. (For those of you that do not know, I have convertible pile of rust that I once needed now taking up our driveway)

After all, how am I not to want with MTV showing me incredible "Cribs", closets bigger then my living room filled with more clothes than I will own in a life time, and "rides" "pimped" out with more electronics then my house. I want all of that and I want a job that will enable me to get it. It is fun to daydream about things that I want and it is fun to strategize on how I can get them. Wanting these things also leads to motivation, determination, being driven and focused. These are positive words that are born because of the negative characteristic, discontentment.

Why is this a bad thing? Why are we told to be content in all things? Hold on...I am about to get philosophical...

Everyone desires to be happy. Contentment is synonymous with happiness. We want happiness therefore we desire things that we think will make us happy. We want to have those things, so that we no longer want them, so that we can be content (or happy). Essentially we want what makes us happy so that we can be happy not wanting. The unfortunate caveat to this is no "thing" will make you not want.

From Dictionary.com
happy
Part of Speech: adjective 1
Definition: joyous
Synonyms: content, contented, (others omitted)

content
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: 1.) Happy; 2.) Desiring no more than what one has; satisfied.

How then, am I supposed to be successful in sales if I don't "want" and I am comfortable (or content)? Here is a very small, but important, change in thinking. Rather than saying "I want new stuff, so I will work hard in order to get new stuff". Say "I will work hard as to Glorify my God and if I am rewarded for doing so, I will take pleasure in that". It is a change of mind and of heart.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying things as long as you do not depend on things for enjoyment. I was talking to my friend this morning that just returned last night from New Orleans. He was there gutting houses that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and contaminated floodwaters. He said they filled massive containers with tons and tons of stuff i.e. electronics, appliances, etc...; stuff that was once valuable but now trash. He communicated that the experience made him wish he had less.

Another thing to keep in mind is that companies spend Billions of dollars in advertising campaigns and marketing strategies. They hire the very brightest individuals to team up in efforts to get you to buy their product. They are not necessarily there to show you where to find something you need but rather to convince you that you need it. People like me, who suffer from wanting, are out numbered and out witted. I can't wait to give these folks my money so that I can get something soon to be worthless in return. This makes their Billions of dollars spent worthwhile. There is nothing wrong with enjoying things as long as you do not depend on things for enjoyment.

Contentment. To not want. What an interesting concept.

Today I challenge you to give thanks for what you have.

I care about you and I am praying for you and yours.

In His Grip, JP

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

Matthew 6:19 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.