Defeat

I have slipped. It was not intentional, but I must disclose. I want to tell you the story of how I have slipped in order to discuss a much more interesting idea; a question to the readers and to myself.

There were two instances of me buying accessories and clothing. My friend Krissy was in town from Hawaii and she had a headache. We made our way to the drugstore and were browsing the shelves. I noticed that they had all the valentines decorations up and some early Easter candy amongst the shelves. I had a fleeting thought about how time is slightly speeding up these days when I saw a pair of socks with red hearts all over them. My sons teacher is a lover of socks and I thought I might buy them for her for valentines day. They were only a couple dollars so I said to Krissy, "I want some too!" and added them to the cart, bought them, and left. It was a week later when I went to put them on that I realized I bought a piece of clothing for myself!

The second occurrence was a trip to the snow. I had planned to go to the snow with Krissy and her family, but she caught a flight back to Hawaii early so our family decided to go alone the following day. We got all our stuff together and the only item we needed were gloves for 3 of us. We stopped by target and bought some on our way to the snow. Ooops again, I had purchased an accessory! I even got compliments on the gloves when I wore them to drop off my son Joey at school the following morning!

It never occurred to me that I should then stop this challenge. The only thought I had was, "I better be more careful about remembering that I am in fact doing this challenge and perhaps blog more to keep it in my mind". So I wondered, why didn't I consider quitting? Well first of all, I have never really been the quitting type, even to a fault. There are times when it might be wise to quit something, but I will keep trying, so I guess it is an asset and sometimes a failure. What makes someone never quit? What makes someone push themselves instead of being content? What did I absorb along the way that led me to live that way?

Undulgence

This weekend Rob and are totally indulging. We are paying way too much for a hotel room. We are eating dinner at the top of the Mark Hopkins and probably paying 20 dollars a glass for wine. We are going to a spa that may or may not bankrupt a person. Am I a hypocrite for taking this short trip during this challenge. My answer is no. I am not going to explain my reasoning because I find it is quite sound, but it raises an interesting question. How often do you really indulge...big or small? Really think about this. If everyday you are indulging in something than your finances are probably a little out of whack and you may have gained a few pounds and you are most likely less satisfied with life in general. Why? You are likely more concerned with yourself than others if you are indulging in what makes you happy every single day. You may be trying to find rest in happiness instead of rest in God. Also, I can't help but think that when you really choose to indulge it may mean less if you are already doing it daily. I am also speaking to myself here. Go through a day and measure your indulgences. Depriving yourself for the sake of another may bring more happiness than the indulgence itself.