A Piece of .....Crap

Now I'm not one to curse, but when it comes to my ideas on this blogpost, well it just makes complete sense. It's hard for me to begin to compose my thoughts for this piece: Materialism. Money. The root of ALL evil. Some say money can buy you happiness, I say it can just buy you a bunch of crap, and a very empty heart. It is no stretch to say that much of life, and the world we live in today revolves around and by money. Currency, bartering, trade dates back to the earliest recorded history; taxes in ancient Egypt, so on and so forth. But until recent times materialism wasn't so out of hand. Sure, you had royalty sitting on beds of wealth and luxury, but the average person for the most part didn't work their life trying to achieve that because they knew they couldn't, it was simply reserved for the royalty.

However, in today's society, money really seems to be everything. Marketing, advertising, business, even the culture of America or "the American dream" having a house and 2.5 children is funded by this. Recently, my distaste for money became more apparent when conversing with a very good friend, I asked him what his dream in life was. He replied, "Have a big house, a boat and a pool table." I was very taken aback. A dream in life is something that will fulfill your every being and radiate love in your heart, I never thought having a big house could do that for anyone. I began to think, we were raised to plan to go down a path not just to pay our bills, but to pay for our "things." Michael Kors bags, Armani sunglasses, luxury vehicles, trips to Cabo. But would any of that make you happy? Maybe for a moment in time, but not for more than a fleeting second. Happiness and inner peace are achieved through embarking on your journey and achieving your own dreams; through helping others, being yourself, loving one another, your spiritual relationships, and enlightenment. Desire is "threatening danger to spiritual life," letting things get in the way of pursuing the bigger scheme of things; your passions, serving the Lord, growing in your spiritual relationships. Desire is evil. You will think, dream, lust, do anything to get what you want. But that is truely the root of evil, blocking your mind from what is really important.

Money in this world can't only buy you things, but it can buy you people. Sickenenly enough, in almost any area of the world you can buy women for your own pleasure. A very precious friend of mine recently shared an eye-opening document that will light a burning fire in anyone who sees it, Nefarious. I urge you all to watch, share, and think deeply about it. http://nefariousdocumentary.com/
I won't go into much detail on that, saved for another post. Money funds wars, sex, the objectivity of women on a magazine, drugs, guns, pop culture warping people's sense of reality and changing society into a money hungry, power thirsty crowd of people living in the rat race of life, racing towards what? A bunch of stuff to enjoy in the afterlife?

I will share an incredible Ted talk that put my thoughts into statistic, explaining how material things do not ever buy you a shred of happiness, yet lead you down a path of sin, remorse, and addiction to swiping your card and holding more of that thin green paper in your greedy little hands.
http://www.ted.com/playlists/4/what_makes_you_happy

Money, obviously is an apparant necessity of life. It can be used for good or evil. For good, pay your bills, treat your friends well, give to those who need it, travel, learn, grow, give back to the earth, find your passions, but don't let your passion be the newest form of technology or the newest designer garb.


In peace,

    Kelsey.

A Piece of Encouragement

Encouragement: something that makes someone more determined, hopeful, or confident. It seems however that these days encouragement isn't too easy to come by. We live in a world over-run by criticism, hate, and jealousy. I was inspired to write this piece after hearing about a friend who recently took a leap of faith and moved to the big, ferocious New York City in search of a job. He told me about getting on the subway, going about his daily routine when he noticed a frightened passenger and struck up a conversation. The passenger told him that he was en route to a job interview, and desperately was hoping to snag it because he had just moved there without a job. My friend told him he had done the same, and that the cards had fallen into place and that everything would work out for him as well. The passenger felt encouraged, and got off the train with an extra spring in his step and a boost of confidence that isn't often come by in the big apple.

How different would the world be if we encouraged each other more often? Rather than live in the mindset many of us were taught in elementary school to "only worry about ourselves," but instead to worry about one another and build each other up and encourage others to do our very best, and believe in one another. Personally, I believe in myself whole heartedly that I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to because I was raised with that mantra. However, when I know someone else is rooting for me and they can see me from a different perspective, I feel more confident than ever before to take on the world.

We are not all enemies, and not everyone is in competition with you. Life is not a competition, it is not about achieving that sacred CEO position, it is not about becoming a millionaire, or finally being able to afford that sports car. We are here. This is life, this is all we get and we should cherish every single inch of it. When you stop seeing others as competitors and life as a game, you begin to enjoy it and can see other as fellow bits of stardust on this journey through time, and then you can pull back the curtain and love and encourage one another.

My challenge to you, think more positively about people; your family, friends, and that stranger taking too long in line ahead of you at Starbucks. Pass on a word of encouragement to someone you know facing a challenge, or simply someone beside you in the rat race.

With peace,

    Kelsey.