Bigger numbers and lesser lives

It’s not bad if numbers are useful when answering the question: “What am I going to get out of this?”

Numbers, however, aren’t everything. And they can be misleading.

What are those “likes” and “shares” really worth to you? Do they help you sleep better at night? Do you walk taller?

Maybe you get a ten percent raise in pay. Maybe that ten percent raise in pay comes with 20 percent more stress.

Does a bigger engine with more horsepower mean you will get to your destinations faster? How much longer will you have to work to pay off the loan for those extra horses? You may not have as much time to drive.

If all you’re going to get out of something is a number, you may be reducing your life down to mere existence. Worse, you may be missing life altogether.

After all, how do you quantify beauty, contentment, creativity, joy, love?

And if you cannot quantify it, you cannot buy it.

So why work so hard to increase numbers that will never have enough zeroes behind them to buy the life you desire so deeply in your soul?

If you can’t buy it, you can’t bargain for it. You can’t bribe it. You can’t earn it.

All you can do is believe it exists, believe it is for you before you do one thing to deserve it, and receive it with gratitude.

And you’ll never again have to ask: “What am I going to get out of this?”

Instead, you will be free to ask: “What will I give to this?”

Grace and Peace.