Give Thanks

With Thanksgiving just around the corner maybe we need to look back at what we have. There is a song called "Satisfied Mind" and those words float through my brain every once in a while. I am sure very few have heard these words and I hope I can do it justice.

" Once I was winning in fortune and fame Everything I ever needed for a start in life's game then suddenly it happened, I lost every dime Now I'm richer by far with a satisfied mind. Money can't buy back your youth when you're old, a friend when you're lonely or a heart that's grown cold The worlds richest person is a pauper at times compared to the man with the satisfied mind."

I am not promoting poverty nor quitting your job. I am asking what it takes to be satisfied. I feel the perception of the definition of satisfaction has been perverted. From the Free Dictionary by Farlex, "1. the act of satisfying or state of being satisfied". So my question is what does it take to be satisfied.

I feel our perception of satisfaction has changed to the point where we can't be satisfied unless we have the biggest, the best, the newest, or the coolest. Also we have coupled that perceived need with the need for immediacy. We have a cell phone and and when it rings we drop everything to answer or read that text and others when they phone or text expect the immediate response. Remember when we we had just a land line and we would come home and check the answering machine. Was it simpler then? Were you satisfied?

The TV commercial screams buy me buy me and we race to the store once again for the biggest best newest. Sit down and look around your house and ask yourself, as you look at all the dust collectors, if they really made you satisfied or was it merely the need for immediate gratification and the search for perceived satisfaction. Look at the size of your house and ask how much room you really need and how much of it is merely wasted space. How much could you eliminate and still be satisfied?

I'm starting to ramble now so lets complete this. Life is full of needs and fantasies and sometimes we live in a fantasy. Sometimes my fantasies are all I have left because if I faced reality I'd be afraid of depression. Sometimes our fantasies cause us to to live in a world of fake reality. Sometimes those fantasies change our perception of satisfaction and satisfaction becomes just an illusion.

"Money can't buy back your youth when you're old,
a friend when you're lonely,
or a heart that's grown cold".

With Thanksgiving just around the corner maybe we need to look back at what we have......