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This Modern Life 1/11/2012 8:22:45 PM
Oh Luxury! It is the one thing everyone does not need but almost everyone wants. They can be anything: vacations, items such as houses and cars, spiritual things and money. They either enhances the soul or corrupts them but one can only surmise what level of luxury one can have.
I have problems, lots of problems, small and big ones. First, my house is falling apart. The roof is growing moss, the sidings are rotting and the fence is left in disrepair. Then the car, it is old; but it is not only old but small items seem to be problematic; it is temperamental. The key to my ignition gets stuck and sometimes not. The back of my car seem to get closed for a long time and then would be alright. My bath tub faucet drips and then stops, as if at random. I have been trying to find the water main switch so I could stop the water in order that I can repair the drip, but I haven’t found it yet. (I try not to meddle with the street water main wherein I need to call the water district to shut it off. With my experience, I am apt to burst the street water main and create bigger trouble.) My computer is old and also temperamental. It takes long time to boot up. And it is about 8 years old, approximately. It was the latest gadget (a tablet) when I bought it close to $4,000. Oh everything is old and sometimes dead and sometimes alive. That is why I brought up the topic of luxury.
To be luxurious means that I do not have these problems I am experiencing. Everything should be in good working order and that it should be more than in good working order; they should be above the norm that everyone has. To be on the lap of luxury does not mean that you are rich, just substantially wealthy to afford these things. But those days are gone, at least I hope, temporarily. In the old days, I had three homes. I had two cars. And I have gadgets galore – four phone lines with different carriers, two computers and the latest in household appliances – taking European vacations and visiting resorts on a whim.
But take them away, one by one, and slowly I should feel that I am sinking into some abyss of poverty and hopelessness. But I have an epiphany when I was driving to New Seasons grocery (to eat my lunch.) I am not that poor or hopeless. I am far above that even in my condition. Granted that my house is growing moss, the sidings are rotting or the fence is in disrepair, I have a house, yeah, a house to live in. And I own my own home. I don’t live in an apartment. And still if I lose my house and live in an apartment, I still have somewhere to live. And if I lose my apartment, I have relatives to live with (if they will let me.) And if no one lets me live in their place and I am homeless, I am still alive.
Having two cars, nowadays, is just shameless. Just imagine, two cars with just me, using them. So finding the locking system not working either from the ignition or the back of the car is nothing. I have a car to drive. I don’t walk or ride public transportation. But if I do, so be it. I can’t lose for losing.
My computer, well, it still is working even though it is 8 years old or older. Eight years old but it still can type, retrieve, copy, paste, edits, does calculations, the internet and does Outlook. It is slower also but granted that it does not do the other things modern computers do; I have survived it and will do so until it dies.
In short, I can survive this modern world. I have lived in luxury and still do. Relative to many people, I am way ahead of them (if I compare myself to them. But why would I? I live through my own abilities and luck. And I am substantially happy to have a house, a car and a computer therefore, I am lucky.) I can’t lose for losing, I have survived and I am still alive enjoying the trials and successes of this modern life.
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