The Monster of More

One of my favorite singers, Sara Groves, came out with a song called “All I Need” a handful of years ago.  It goes a little something like this:  (You can listen to it here too.)

Newly married, new apartment
All our furniture was saved from the dump
Yes dear, maybe we can afford a trashcan next month

All I need is my love for you and a seat for two

New baby new life
We will teach him to speak French
We’ve got no money so we’ll make it all ourselves
I’ll make the curtains and you make the shelves

All I need is a power saw and a new sewing machine

Honey, this house needs a little something
That bare mantle doesn’t look so good
Someone told me of a man
Who makes animals from driftwood

All I need is your monthly bonus for a wooden walrus

Honey, the Colbaughs are coming over
This house needs some renovations
Just a wall or two, just a little room
And a few new decorations

All I need is a sectional and a satellite TV
and dark-wood cabinets that were custom built for me
and a painting by that guy that paints with his feet…

That’s all I need
For now

Does this resonate with you?   It echoes deeply within me.

So many of us set out to live simply.  But then we get bit by the Monster of More.

We aren’t satisfied with what we have, and we want More.  We think life would be easier, less challenging with More.  We think we would be happier, less discontent.  Just a little more decoration here, or another designer purse, a nicer and newer car, or a few more square feet.

And it’s never enough.

Even in my own life, I am sitting here typing in the beautiful house we call Home.  When we bought this house just less than two years ago, I thought it would be all we could ever want.  And I know in my heart it’s all we need and more.  But even still, I find the Monster of More creeping in as I think about the beautiful (and huge!) house down the road that has a For Sale sign in the yard.  (Oh goodness, I hope those neighbors don’t read this… awkward.)

We’re an always wanting people, aren’t we?  So often, we think that if we just got one more thing, then we would be satisfied.  But then it comes, and we’re lefting wanting More.

So how do we fight this lack of contentedness, this Monster of More?  (I really must give some credit to my husband for the points below, as he shared something similar in a Sunday School lesson this past weekend.)

1.  Be thankful.
If when we find ourselves wanting, perhaps choosing to be thankful for all that we do have would tell that Monster of More to shoo.  Instead of wanting a bigger, better house, maybe I should be take a moment to consider the house I have, and be thankful for it.  Being thankful for our current circumstances- materially and otherwise- can help us appreciate and stop wanting more.  A thankful heart breeds contentedness.

2.  Don’t compare.  And if you do, compare down.
When we want More, it’s often because we’re comparing ourselves to others who have more than we do.  I want a BMW like my boss.  I want a Coach bag like my best friend.  I want a new leather couch like that couple from church. Typically when we find ourselves wanting more, it’s because we’re looking up instead of down.  Throwing ourselves a Poor Me Party because we don’t have what they have.

How often though do we compare ourselves to those who have less?  Personally, not often.  But when we do, we are able to see how much we actually do have and how we probably can survive without More.

I’ve had the opportunity to travel to a few second and third world countries and see the complete poverty in which the people live.  In Nicaragua, the second poorest country in our hemisphere, I remember passing field after field of “houses” made from three sticks and a torn plastic trash bag.  These were the houses in which the poorest Nicaraguans lived, if they could even get a trash bag.  How dare I think that my house isn’t enough when compared to the poor in this world?  Surely my family can make do (and appreciate!) the sound and beautiful structure in which we live.

3.  Give.
I believe that generosity breeds contentedness- and more generosity.  We when are willing to make a financial sacrifice to help another, it changes our perspective on More.  We find a better use for our money.  A more worthy cause than a new pair of expensive shoes or bigger back yard.   We see the greater good our dollar can do in Africa than in Macy’s.

Even in difficult economic times in the US, we are still significantly better off than most of the world.  Did you know that nearly 10 million children ages five and under die worldwide each year due to preventable causes like treatable disease and poor sanitation?  Are we aware of the one billion people in the world who are hungry and malnourished?  Or did you know that there are more people living in slavery today in sex and labor trades than “were taken out of Africa during 400 years of trans-Atlantic slave trading”.  (Source)  Those numbers are staggering.

But what if we commit to help even just one child on a monthly basis, by providing resources such as food, medicine, and education?  Or joining with others to build a clean water well in an African village?  Have you ever considered giving to provide counseling, medical attention, and vocational training to young girls who are victims of the sex trade? Or i n our own backyards, giving to provide resources to women who find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy?

These are very real things we can do with our money in the battle against More.  When we find ourselves wanting More, we can give to another instead, perhaps even “giving until it hurts” and rendering ourselves financially unable to feed the Monster of More.  When we give and see the very real and more worthy effects of our money elsewhere, we are less likely to cave to the latest lust to buy something else.

I don’t have this all figured out.  I still struggle with the Monster of More.  Daily.  But I don’t want to just give in to the desire to buy more and seek contentedness in consumerism.  Because at the end of the day, we find out it doesn’t work.  We’ll still want More.

How do you fight the battle of wanting More?