VITAMINS FOR THE MIND by Ron Reynolds #3412 (Thursday, October 31, 2013) People Wearing Masks You’re going to see lots of little kids wearing masks and costumes today, pretending to be something different than they are; that’s the way it is on Halloween – a little boy is a lion and a little girl is a princess. Wouldn’t that be nice if grownups could put on a costume and become someone who is a hero, someone who is free of debt and earning a good income, and someone who is living out a dream they once had. I sometimes offer a quote along those lines – “You’re never given a dream or a wish without also possessing the ability to make it come true for you.” Yes, that is possible; but you’re going to have to work for it. Nothing comes to us solely because we wish for it or hope for it or because we need it. A reasonably successful and enjoyable life and lifestyle never gravitates to a person because of their need, it moves toward them because of ‘deserve.’ But in this generation, people can ‘lease’ some degree of success; they can acquire things that make them seem successful to others, but the fact is they’re managed to get things that well-to-do people have, but they’re paying a huge price for it; in essence, they’re acquiring things today with next year’s income, and they can do this because of their ‘good credit.’ But here’s how those who ‘lease’ or ‘rent’ their artificial lifestyle are really living; families are often at war with themselves in private – in their homes or some other private place where they resort to a form of behavior that’s consistent with their self-made and pretensive reality. In private, they argue, or don’t talk to each other because of an argument they’ve just had about money – or the lack of it. They’re juggling money around to make payments, and often they use the cash available on one credit card to make payments on a few other cards that are due or overdue. I know that’s how it is because I once lived that way. My wife at that time and I would argue over how we were having to live; then, when it was time to go to church, for example, as we pulled into the parking lot and encountered our friends, our facial expression would go from a snarl and short answers to one another to being happy, in love, and being normal. Then, when we returned home, we took off our ‘masks of happiness and contentment’ and went back to being hostile and angry. It’s understandable how it’s just fine to put on a costume of behavior on Halloween, but it’s degrading to the spirit to do it in our real lives; it weakens our self-esteem and self-confidence to have to ‘pretend our way’ through life while deep inside ourselves we’re at war with ourselves and with those who we say we love. I’m sure that in those situations the love is still there, but it isn’t displayed the way it once was when we were kids because of the burdens our overspending has created. Let’s help people take off their masks and costumes so they can be more like the people they really want to be. The views expressed on this post are those of Ron Reynolds and do not necessarily reflect the views of AdvoCare.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 12:00:00 +0000
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