Wednesday, November 12, 2014

How to Feel Grateful for Everything You Have

Yep, I'm talking about material things here.

Maybe you're like me and you feel grateful pretty regularly for the things that really matter: your loving husband, your healthy children, your ability to laugh through the shit and baby food flung around your used-to-be-clean house.

And maybe you're also like me (and the rest of America, I think) in that it's never enough. I'm talking material shit here, people. There's always something more: the next piece of jewelry that's just classic and essential and why haven't you spent at least $1,000 on your solitaire earrings yet? The next wardrobe piece that you'll want to drop $350 on because you'll wear it, like, forever, with anything, but you won't because let's all agree you can find a knockoff deal somewhere. The next stainless steel appliance. The next tablet or iPhone or smart watch or whatever the hell they're inserting chips and internet connections into now.


I've found (sadly, this is revelation-quality shit to me right now) that I'm so much more appreciative of the things (people I'm being shallow today so get over it) I have when they're clean. I can knock off the voice that wants more when I appreciate everything around me.

The one stainless steel appliance in my kitchen looks awesome when it's not covered in tiny fingerprints and milk drippings. At least I think it's milk.

The 1998 Corian countertop still looks pretty bangin when it's glistening-white (when the lights are dim I can pretend it's quartz).

The proportionately large bedroom (large compared to the rest of our home) feels like a luxury retreat without the piles of laundry and diapers and wipes and books and hangers lying around.

The office/guest bedroom feels cozy and cerebral when the focus can be on the stuffed bookcase instead of on the piles of papers and holiday gift bags and envelopes I cleaned out.

Secret: I clean like a pro when I've had a glass of wine. Whatever.


It's all the same underneath; no major renovations up here on the main level. It's just clean. Appreciated.  Taken care of. It took me days of sneaky-quiet cleaning while my daughter naps to get to this point. It's not easy when you're responsible for a little person (or two or three) sharing your home, but it's worth it. I promise it's worth it.

7 comments:

  1. You are so right! What a difference having a clean home can make to our perspective and appreciation of what we have.

    Thanks for sharing and for linking up to the #SHINEbloghop!

    Wishing you a lovely evening.
    xoxo

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    1. Thank you!! Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving!

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  2. I agree with you 100%. I am definitely more content with my surroundings when they are clean. But I do disagree with the shallow comment you made about yourself. There is nothing shallow about you!

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    1. Yes! It can be so much easier said than done, sometimes, though. And thank you. <3

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  4. I clean better with a glass of wine too- although for me it's usually folding laundry. With 3 kids under 5, there's always laundry... Regardless, we're lucky to live where we do because it offers us a level of protection from the consumerism that you're constantly bombarded with in the States. Even without that, we do have "stuff" in our house and you're absolutely right that when a house is clean and the excess is gone, you can appreciate what you do have more.
    Amber at OurCharmedLife.net

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    1. Oh, the laundry! Even with 1 it seems like it never ends. You know, we bought this little ranch because it's in an area we love, and though the temptation is all around us to buy into the whole "bigger is better" ideal, I sincerely hope we don't. My mama's always said, a bigger house is just more to clean. :) I think she's right on a lot of levels.

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