Want

I've been there before...actually, I'm there right now...I am afflicted with a serious case of wanting. Wanting the scent of a brand spankin' new vehicle with its upholstery free of the splatter stains from a pressurized Coke can...wanting a fresh living room carpet that gives no indication that this home's owners have destructive pets ...wanting a professional landscaper service my backyard jungle free of weeds and doggy land mines...wanting a new Dell laptop to do homework on so I don't have to keep stealing the one Grandpa gave Dylan last Xmas...maybe even wanting to join in an investing venture to own luxe vacation property in the Philippines...And all this wanting? It's wanting it NOW. The list goes on and on.

If this were at another point in time, a more greedy Winnie would probably find a means to support the addiction of fulfilling all these "wants." A simple swipe of plastic usually did the trick. The more pocket-painful process of having to pay that back, of course, also came with the package. And more times than none, the novelty of the then-much-needed item has expired way before the first payment was sent off through the magical world of Web Bill Pay.

But as singledom gave way to marriage and family, the ability to resist those "wants" gave way to a more pressing matter of providing a quality life for myself, the hubby, and the children. Yes, those wants still fester in the back of my mind...and I usually can't resist the "wants" of the kids, but thankfully, I have been gradually blessed with the resistance to shiny pretty things (this has been helped along with the ceremonious shredding of the plastics).

The kids enjoying a simple afternoon running around the cul-de-sac with neighborhood friends is a comforting sight. It reminds me that this innocent joy is not fueled by material belongings...heck, if my kid wants to ride a nifty little bike, all she has to do is "steal" it from a neighboring garage...hehehe.

There's that cute little saying, "The best things in life are not things." I'd like to adopt that as my mantra, although the sight of that bright red and white bullseye is all it takes to get my heart racing at the anticipation of some major retail therapy! Oh, well, I guess I'm not completely reformed.