Chasing Happiness

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/07/27/teresa.giudice.auction.ppl/index.html?hpt=Sbin

This article makes me sad. It's about one of the New Jersey Housewives on Bravo (yes, it is my guilty pleasure-I admit it!) and about how she and her husband are in a huge amount of debt, have filed for bankruptcy, and are now having their possessions sold at auction next month. I really feel for Teresa-how embarrassing and heartbreaking it must be to get to that point, and to have it splashed all over the news because she's famous. But at the same time, since I watch the show I know that she and her husband created a lot of their own mess. She ALWAYS bragged about having the nicest mansion...even on an episode a couple of weeks ago she bragged about how she lived in a "5 million dollar mansion". I bet it is so easy to get caught up in the "I have to have ____, I need _____" in order to fit in on the show, which profiles wealthy socialites and their day to day lives. The show wouldn't work if it showed us normal folk because it's not entertaining to see me sitting at the kitchen table cutting coupons. Instead it's got to be about her spending sprees, where in one episode, in less than an hour she hands over 2 thousand dollars for clothes for her daughters.

The article really brought me back to the lesson on Sunday at church, which was about how 'if it makes you happy' is a lie we tell ourselves in order to justify selfish actions. Think about it...if we're constantly buying the next 'big ticket' item, or wanting something better than what already have, that just leads to a life of comparing and never quite feeling like you measure up. And that's not how God wants us to live our lives. I think Teresa's story, for me personally, is a good example of what can happen if the "I gotta have it" monster grows out of control. I'm not saying not to have ambition when it comes to a career or whatever, but my take away from all this is that I'm very blessed with what I already have. An 8000 square foot mansion might be nice, but it's not going to make me happy. Plus it would be a bitch to keep clean. :P

If you're interested in listening to the sermon that talked about this 'if it makes you happy' true-ish statement, Pastor Matt's talk is here: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eastlakelawrence.com%2FTrueish2.mp3&h=3b12e