What You Have Not

"Do not spoil what you have

by desiring what you have not."

Ann Brashares

We make a list of 'toys' we so desperately want. When we graciously receive one, we simply cross it off the list, and begin pining for the next.  There is nothing wrong with anticipating the future, but we are not appreciating the present when we are constantly thinking: "the next bathing suit I have; the next apartment I live in; the next car I buy; or the next man I meet ..."  

There is importance in maintaining an awareness of the what is before us.  There is much to be said about living in the moment, as they are not forever either. "I wish I had told her; I wish I had used it more; I wish I had seen that first ..."

While attending a private college prep academy, I became very aware of a similarity between the wealthy style of life and mine.  The wealthy had cars, clothes, and huge homes, but they experienced the same loneliness within them that I also had. It was at this young age that I learned never to wish for someone else's life and to focus upon what was before me.