Stern Views

Been doing a lot of reading lately, which I’m a huge fan of. I love books. I love to look at books in stores and I love to buy books. But my pocketbook doesn’t really like it when I buy lots of books. Because if I just read them once, then the money that I used didn’t go very far. Now, if I’m buying a book that I’m going to read frequently or reference frequently, I have no problem buying it. 

So what’s the dilemma? Well, I’m an American. I live in a culture that promotes consumerism. I’m told by the media that I must support the economy and buy more stuff. My government even recently sent me a check, to spend on more stuff I don’t need, in order to stimulate the economy. As an American I sometimes feel entitled to enough money to do this. Once I found out I was getting this stimulus check I began checking my mail more furiously, waiting for the day that the check would arrive. I even complained when I “hadn’t received it yet” because I wanted my money because I deserved it. It was mine to be had. 

I have a really bad habit of not being able to wait for things that I think I want or think I need. I buy stuff I don’t need, I strive to receive gifts early so I don’t have to wait, and I justify to myself that if I’m going to get it anyway, I might as well get it now. I’ve basically thrown the joy of receiving a gift out the window through the belief that I deserve it or am entitled to it. Just give it to me now, right? 

I decided recently that I need to do something about this habit. I need to become better at waiting, and return the element of surprise and joy back to the things that I consume. So I started supporting my local library. I got a library card and vowed to never buy a book again unless I absolutely, for certain, knew that I would reference it multiple times. If my dollar wasn’t going to be stretched out of the purchase, then I wouldn’t buy it. 

I’ve met this self-challenge with a lot of success. The only books that I’ve bought since getting a library card are yoga books that I use when planning out classes. Also, the library doesn’t always have the books I want when I want them, so I’m forcing myself to wait. I have discovered through this the joy of receiving an email that says “Your book is now available.” Its like getting a gift I’ve expected for a long time. This challenge has taught me the joy of receiving long-awaited items, and it has saved me a lot of money. If I would have bought every book that I’ve checked out or put on hold from the library in even the past 2 months I would have spent almost $200. 

The next challenge is to let this carry over to more areas of my life. Where else am I spending too much money and not stretching my dollar? What am I consuming only once? How can I consume less? How can I let my sense of entitlement decrease as my money-saving habits increase?

Sure, this post is a plug for the local library. I love my local library and the people that work there. I almost feel like I owe them a lot of money, just letting me read a bunch of books that would have cost me hundreds of dollars had they not been there for me. So yeah, support your local library and become more counter-cultural. Wait for things to come to you rather than feeling like you’re entitled to them and you must therefore have them now.

There may be some confusion as to how I could ever put the word “Abundance” in the title given the economic “crisis.” Some may think I’m ignorant or too optimistic to call our current situation “Abundant” but I would beg to differ.

Yesterday I had a conversation with a coworker who reported that her retirement fund was down 46% and that she’s probably “better off just not looking at it.” We ended the conversation on the note, “but you know, I’m okay.” We realize we’re getting a paycheck, we have food on our plates, we have homes to live in with more amenities than most others get, and most importantly, we’re fortunate enough to even have the concept of “retirement.” 

The other day I went out to eat at one of my favorite places, Chipotle. Those who have been to Chipotle know that you watch your burrito, bol, or taco get put together. You watch as all the ingredients are placed onto your dish and you can clearly see the amount of each ingredient. Walking through the line, my coworker and I found ourselves thinking “man, they’re really skimping on the guac” or, “I really didn’t get much rice on mine.” I handed the cashier my $7 and joined my coworkers at the table that they had chosen. 

At the table we vocalized our thoughts, reporting that various ingredients seemed to be in lower quantity than normal. The conversation lasted around a minute or two and then I set my fork down on my napkin and lifted the bowl of food and really took its weight into consideration. I interrupted our conversation by stating that the weight of the bowl was easily over 1 pound. And I would guess that the bowl without the food would weigh only a few ounces. So I’m thinking to myself, “wait, I have more than a pound of food in front of me, and I’m complaining?” My complaining earlier came to a halt as I realized that I have more food in front of me than most people on the planet get in a day, maybe even in a week. The nutrition in this meal was more complete and well rounded in one bowl than the food that most people get. I probably had more nutrition (fiber, carbohydrates, vitamins, calories, etc.) in that one bowl than in the food that is available in many parts of the world spread over a few days. 

It creates a dilemma. “What can I do about this?” In America restaurants like this are all over the place. We’re trained to over-eat. I don’t approach this from a “I want to lose weight” point of view, but rather, “how can I see the abundance amidst what most people are calling a recession?” I can see it in the pound of food that is nutritionally over-abundant that costs me $7 to get. I see that to pay that $7, I have to work for about 36 minutes. And I don’t really get paid all that much according to many standards.

I can see the abundance in my own home, where I have a nice tv, brand new furniture, a very comfortable bed, a computer, 2 cars, and many other things that really keep me comfortable. And I make enough money to sustain this. I even make enough money that I can spend money on extra stuff to make me more comfortable. I can buy brand new clothing and I can buy gas to fuel my two cars. I can even save money to the side to buy bigger and better things. On top of that, I have access to a credit card, so if I wanted to buy something outside of the means of my own income, I can do that and just pay a company back one month at a time until I’ve paid for that thing completely. And if I do a really good job at that, this company will allow me to spend more and more of their money so I can buy things that are more and more outside my income. 

So what’s the point of all this? What is the next step with all of this information? I think just being aware of who we are, where we are at, and what we are capable of is something that all of us need. It empowers us to change the way we spend our money, our time, and use our resources more wisely. Its not about a guilt trip, because that does nothing for us. For me to even write down these thoughts I am inspired to change how I live, to count my blessings and to realize that I am “ok.” I’m more than ok. I live in an abundance, no matter what others may tell me.

“Guilt is not helpful. Honesty is helpful. Awareness is helpful. Knowledge is helpful. Guilt isn’t. Human history has never witnessed the abundance that we consider normal. America is the wealthiest nation in the history of humanity. We have more resources than any group of people anywhere at any time has ever had. Ever.

God bless america? God has. And we should be very, very grateful.”

- Rob Bell, Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A manifesto for the Church in exile

Discipline is a heavy word with a lot of baggage. In my very churched upbringing, I’ve heard this word used in so many ways. I’ve been under the impression that discipline is both a punishment and strong characteristic of a person that can lead to joy. 

I’m not here to bash on spiritual disciplines as I know them to be life changing. I’m not here to preach about anyone’s lack of discipline (except maybe my own). Rather, I’m writing this from the perspective of going into a new challenge of my own discipline.

In countless articles on yoga, the authors always mention the benefits of a daily practice. This is yet another place where I have heard discipline used. As I have written before, I practice yoga regularly and I enjoy the challenge of learning new poses and doing new things that I once thought were impossible. When I’m in the place of writing about a new pose it comes from a place of joy that I have accomplished something. And it shows me the benefits of my own discipline in even giving yoga the time that I have.

So, for the next 30 days, I’m going to try and re-wire my body into waking up early enough to practice yoga for 45 minutes every morning. I will still go to yoga classes throughout the week, I just want to see where these short practices take me in my practice. In my dream my ultimate goal of this discipline would be to wake up at 5 AM, take my dog for a walk and drink some coffee, come home and do my practice, then shower and get ready for work, and ultimately hop on my bike and go to work. 

It is not bragging rights I am after, not an ability to say “look at what I have done all before coming to work!” but rather I am after a complete reprogramming of my life. This is something I’ve considered doing for a long while now and I figure that the best time is now. 

Throughout these thirty days, you can follow me at 30 Days of Yoga. I will write my own reflections from poses that are challenging, any new breakthroughs that I am making as well as reflections of the discipline gained through this time.