A spoonful of sugar!

I hate taking pills.

In fact, I can't even swallow ones that are bigger than an M&M! I believe I inherited it from my father.

Not being able to swallow pills can pose problems for me. Like the time I broke my ankle and had to ask for Lortab in liquid form! I think the poor doctor had to think back to medical school on how to convert miligrams to milliliters!

There are other pills in life I have to swallow and those aren't easy either. Like the bitter pill of discontentment. That's a pill I daily have to try and swallow. Sometimes, I get it down easily. Sometimes, I choke it down with thoughts of the future. And sometimes, I spit it right back up and become a bitter, griping, discontent person who is no fun to be around!

This pill of discontentment likes to show up when I am tired of living on a budget. When other people around me are buying new cars, new clothes, new houses, going on lovely vacations and I am eating leftovers, fixing used cars, and buying clothes from Goodwill, that little pill becomes harder and harder to swallow. Sometimes, I just want instant gratification.

 

 Back in 2012 and 2013, I had the amazing opportunity (twice!) to go to Kenya, Africa on a medical mission trip. Talk about eye-opening!! Not only did I learn new medical terminology and diagnoses, I also learned what the face of poverty looks like. People in Kenya (except for a select few) have literally nothing. And yet, in spite of their poverty, they live with so much joy. It was truly unbelievable to see the smiles of gratitude and feel the hugs of thankfulness as I washed a scraped knee, gave Tylenol to a throbbing headache, and found answers for tearful parents. I had never seen anything like it.

 

Then, I went to an orphanage.

 

These children truly had nothing. They had lost their parents in a civil war. They lived in shelters fit for livestock- no heat, no air, no running water. They slept on paper thin mattresses. They ate 2 meals a day- if they were lucky. And yet, as our van pulled up to their compound, they cheered and smiled and sang songs of thankfulness. It was overwhelming.

So, today as I swallow my pill of discontentment, I remember the faces.

Faces of people who truly have nothing and live like they have everything. And here I am, when I have everything, and will complain like I have nothing.

I have so much to be thankful for. Being on a budget is the biggest thing I have to be thankful for, you know why? Because it means I actually have something...enough of something...to budget its use. I am truly blessed.

A spoonful of sugar...I mean, reality helps the pill of discontentment go down and hopefully stay away!