20070314

of cost, contentment and cliches

the great things in life never come without a price.
to be married is great, but it costs your singleness.
with every big decision,
we constantly give up one freedom for another,
one treasure for another,
one chain for another,
one debt for another.
such is the way of things.
this would not be so bad,
except that we usually take what we have for granted,
and we rarely count the full cost.
you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.
don't get me wrong here.
it's ok to want more,
and it is good to mourn the loss of good things.
to be content is not not wanting or not missing good things.
one can even be in great need and be content,
for contentment is to know that all we have is from God,
to be grateful for all that He has given us,
and to understand that we cannot have our cake and eat it too.
there are a thousand cliches for what i am saying here,
and more than a few of them, i've already used.
but cliches are cliches for a reason.
again, the great things in life never come without a price.
the price for expressing the profound in a simple way
is that it will one day be dismissed as a cliche.
my advice:
do not treat such things flippantly,
however trite they have become.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

i should add that the "cliches are cliches for a reason" line is actually from my wife, lest anyone credit that piece of wisdom to me. :)