It was during a presentation early this week when a guest asked me how I live now. “You must be very rich and your lifestyle must be very high” .This may be the same impression we get from people around us as seen on our Facebook and instagram.
I smiled and answered her back by saying “ I don’t consider myself rich”. And she gave me that questioning look, and so I shared further.
Most of the people who don’t know us may have an impression that we may be bragging our “way of life” by posting off photos about our daily lives, travels, cars, etc. And I can’t blame them, because I was once judgemental about these things also before I got to realise and learn more about the psychology of how we behave online.
According to one of many researches, we post because it is one way to affirm something about ourselves. It means, we value virtual nods from people around us that they are also informed and aware of what is important to us at this point. It is a community where we can share our thoughts, our views, our favorite things and favorite people and mostly it is one way of shouting out to the universe what we are thankful for and what we are hoping for.
And so as we continue with the guest, I shared with her that we live now in a modest 2 bedroom condo and we chose it because it is just across the business office. It is practical and time saving for us at this point. We get to see our baby in between meetings, eat lunch together and also rest when we need to before heading to another appointment. “How about cars she asked”, well before we got married, my husband was able to save his earnings while he was still doing the business on his own and he was able to purchase his dream car at the age of 27. It is something that he owes himself and it is also a testimony that dreams can come true at any age and regardless of your limitations in the past. I shared with her that he could have kept his money then but I encouraged him to get what he really wanted so he can also use it to inspire more people like him who did not even know how to drive at the age of 26 and prove to people who have so much doubts that when we work hard and put our trust to the Lord, He will bless us immensely more that what we can dream for ourselves.
Now, kindly let me refresh everyone with one of the most shared parable in the bible is the Parable of the Gold coins.
11 While the people were listening to this, Jesus continued and told them a parable. He was now almost at Jerusalem, and they supposed that the Kingdom of God was just about to appear. 12 So he said, “There was once a man of high rank who was going to a country far away to be made king, after which he planned to come back home. 13 Before he left, he called his ten servants and gave them each a gold coin and told them, ‘See what you can earn with this while I am gone.’ 14 Now, his own people hated him, and so they sent messengers after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
15 “The man was made king and came back. At once he ordered his servants to appear before him, in order to find out how much they had earned. 16 The first one came and said, ‘Sir, I have earned ten gold coins with the one you gave me.’ 17 ‘Well done,’ he said; ‘you are a good servant! Since you were faithful in small matters, I will put you in charge of ten cities.’ 18 The second servant came and said, ‘Sir, I have earned five gold coins with the one you gave me.’ 19 To this one he said, ‘You will be in charge of five cities.’ 20 Another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it hidden in a handkerchief. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take what is not yours and reap what you did not plant.’ 22 He said to him, ‘You bad servant! I will use your own words to condemn you! You know that I am a hard man, taking what is not mine and reaping what I have not planted. 23 Well, then, why didn’t you put my money in the bank? Then I would have received it back with interest when I returned.’ 24 Then he said to those who were standing there, ‘Take the gold coin away from him and give it to the servant who has ten coins.’ 25 But they said to him, ‘Sir, he already has ten coins!’ 26 ‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘that to those who have something, even more will be given; but those who have nothing, even the little that they have will be taken away from them. 27
Now, my point here is we have been given so much talents, skills, and capabilities that we can use to either keep to ourselves or share with others. Our way of life is one way of giving. We share how we do things, our thoughts, what and who makes us happy, and most of all what inspires us and keeps us going. This is the very same basis of how we behave online. And Facebook is just one free platform we can use so we better use to maximise its reach and as an effective way to get inspiration and give inspiration – a community that builds up good vibes aside from everything else that is posted and we follow.
Going back to our guest, I concluded by saying that what we have right now is a very “comfortable life”. What we post online are direct relational to what is real to us. We may sound corny or baduy at times, but that’s the truth.
We have a certain level of contentment and security that we put our total dependence to the Lord who planted us where we are right now. Whatever we have, the material things, the learnings and knowledge, the skills and talents that we enjoy and share are not merely ours but have been just entrusted to us to be use for the greater good – to help other people, share with them, inspire them and enrich further for them.
(Girlie is the lady in black suit) 🙂
How do you use your skills? How do you use your talents? How do you use your finances?
Do you keep it to yourself and wait for it to grow on its own? Or do you look for avenues to enrich it and grow it further? As I finish this off, I encourage the guest to challenge herself to look for what she has that she can grow and later on share with more people around her. For the mean time, off to my errands for today and hopefully, I see that same lady next week again as she accepts my challenge.
Have a good weekend everyone.
Much love,
Coach Mara
Working Mom Notes 