{"id":611,"date":"2011-08-30T19:03:24","date_gmt":"2011-08-30T23:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/?p=611"},"modified":"2011-08-30T19:03:24","modified_gmt":"2011-08-30T23:03:24","slug":"living-in-a-material-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/2011\/08\/30\/living-in-a-material-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Living in a material world"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the title may have you thinking of a Madonna song, it seems like a material world is where many of us are living, now more than ever!\u00a0 It would appear we live our lives simply for the accumulation of \u201cstuff\u201d.\u00a0 We want bigger homes, nicer cars and the \u201cright\u201d brands of clothes.\u00a0 What I find interesting is that this growing desire to keep up with the Jones\u2019 has led the world to the current global economic credit crisis!<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I have yet to be blessed with the opportunity to be a parent, I am always intrigued and an active observer of parenting around me with friends as well as strangers.\u00a0 A trend I have seen is the indoctrination of kids into this mindset.\u00a0 Children today seem to be more concerned with image than ever before, and now marketing people would have you think that they influence the buying decisions of their parents as well!\u00a0 I saw a commercial a few months ago for a mini-van where the young boy in the ad pretty much said that the vehicle being pitched was what all the \u201ccool\u201d parents were driving \u2013 I couldn\u2019t believe it!<\/span><\/p>\n

I see parents who feel pressured to oblige their children\u2019s desire for expensive items such as iPhones, name brand running shoes and clothes that are considered to be the latest fashion.\u00a0 Parents feel guilty about not being able to provide the things that other parents are getting their kids, often considering it a reflection of their success or failure as a parent and an individual.\u00a0 The financial, emotional and eventual physical strain of it all makes me wonder \u201cis it all worth it?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing up, I was fortunate enough to be raised by two parents who were both gainfully employed.\u00a0 Because I was an only child, most people assumed that I was spoiled rotten.\u00a0 While I wouldn\u2019t say I was denied a lot, my parents were not big on granting my every wish.\u00a0 My desire for Roots sweaters and Nike running shoes were rebuked.\u00a0 I was told that frivolous expenditures on clothes I would soon grow out of were never going to happen.\u00a0 I often heard the line made classic in the DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince song Parents Just Don\u2019t Understand: <\/em>\u201cyou go to school to learn, not for a fashion show\u201d!\u00a0 In my teens, when the pressure to be cool was at its utmost, I was told if I wanted things bad enough, I would have to get a job and buy them myself!\u00a0 The funny thing is, when I started working, I wasn\u2019t that eager to spend my \u201chard-earned\u201d money so easily!<\/span><\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, my parents were not opposed to obtaining \u201cstuff\u201d.\u00a0 They owned our home and we always had a car.\u00a0 The thing that sets my parents and a lot of the parents of my generation apart from some of the parents I see these days is the fact that my parents weren\u2019t actively seeking my approval.\u00a0 If I was going to be upset about not getting a toy or a new pair of jeans, too bad!\u00a0 As far as they were concerned, their responsibility was to make sure there was a roof over my head, food to eat, and that I was loved.\u00a0 As far as material things were concerned, they gave what they could afford<\/em> to give.\u00a0 They never used \u201cstuff\u201d to appease me or alleviate any guilt they were feeling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps that is the crux of the issue \u2013 guilt.\u00a0 I think a lot of parents today feel guilt for the lack of time they spend with their children.\u00a0 But the question is why isn\u2019t more time being spent?\u00a0 Is it because so many of us are working beyond the average 40 hour work week in our journey to have the \u201ccool\u201d stuff our friends have?\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure about you, but I don\u2019t want to live in a strictly material world.\u00a0 The reality is, I like stuff \u2013 but it\u2019s not what brings me happiness.\u00a0 When I think of my childhood, I don\u2019t recall the toys or clothes my parents bought me, I remember the time spent, the moments of laughter, and even the moments of sadness.\u00a0 It is those experiences that brought me to the place that I am now, made me who I am and I will forever be grateful for all of it!\u00a0 I hope that more and people realize that it\u2019s time to shift our focus from obtaining stuff to reconnecting with spirit. \u2665<\/span><\/p>\n


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While the title may have you thinking of a Madonna song, it seems like a material world is where many of us are living, now more than ever!\u00a0 It would appear we live our lives simply for the accumulation of \u201cstuff\u201d.\u00a0 We want bigger homes, nicer cars and the \u201cright\u201d brands of clothes.\u00a0 What I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[330,331,20,332,333,123,334,280],"class_list":["post-611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thoughtoftheday","tag-accumulation","tag-credit-crisis","tag-desire","tag-latest-fashion","tag-material-world","tag-mindset","tag-parenting","tag-reflection"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harbirzinc.com\/sandradawes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}