You don't know the furniture you take for granted until you don't have it. I've been sofa-less for almost two months. Initially it wasn't a big deal...it was nice having enough space in the living room to do cartwheels in. But then, particularly after dinner, I would find myself circling the areas of my living room where I'd love to flop down or curl up on a sofa to read. Instead I resorted to sitting on my wooden stools at the counter....while the stools are of perfect height (and I got them for $2 a piece!)...sitting too long on them still results in either your legs or buttcheeks or both falling asleep.

I started browsing for a sofa at the beginning of January. My litmus test for sofa shortlisting was simple: My feet touches the floor when I sit down, and I can lean back without falling backwards because the sofa was too deep. That significantly trimmed my options down and I quickly found a comfortable sofa of perfect fit at the first place I went to. BUT...I wanted to know what my options were. What if there was an even better one at a better price...or better style? So one month, 20 furniture stores and hundreds of sofa tests later, I exhausted all reasonable options (though some might say that visiting 20 furniture stores is beyond reasonable) and found myself back with the sofa I first saw and liked. And on a SuperSale weekend too. Life's funny like that. 

Next, bed frame, bedside table and dining chairs.

[Reworded]
Our world asks, "How can I get more?"

   Are we asking, "What can I do without?"

Our world asks, "How can I find myself?"

   Are we asking, "How can I lose myself?"

Our world asks, "How can I win friends and influence people?"

   Are we asking, "How can I love God?"

 

We'll gain a great freedom when we surrender the need to possess. [Paraphrased]

 

Detachment frees us from the control of others. No longer can we be manipulated by people who hold our livelihoods in their hands. Things do not entice our imaginations; people do not dominate our destinies.

 

Silence frees us from the need to control others. One reason we can hardly bear to remain silent is that it makes us feel so helpless. We are accustomed to relying upon words to manage and control others. A frantic stream of words flows from us in an attempt to straighten others out. We want so desperately for them to agree with us, to see things our way. We evaluate people, judge people, condemn people. We devour people with our words. Silence is one of the deepest Spiritual Disciplines simply because it puts the stopper on that.

 

Prayer frees us to be controlled by God. To pray is to change. There is no greater liberating force in the Christian life than prayer. To enter the gaze of the Holy is never to be the same. To bathe in the Light in quiet wonder and glad surrender is to be slowly, permanently transformed. There is a richer inward orientation, a deeper hunger for communion. We feel as if we are being taken over

 

I've been reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis...if I haven't said it already...I'll say it again: AWESOME BOOK. READ IT.

Each chapter is a meaty chew for the intellect...but completely digestible with simple examples or illustrations that bring such clarity of understanding around big Christian principles/pillars/thoughts/teaching. LOVE IT. Here's an exert from Ch 11:

No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. Afterall, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to talk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives into temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in once sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means - the only complete realist.

So true. And that is why we need faith in God as always being True....as well as to deliberately dwell on the pillars of Jesus' teachings on a daily basis so that when our moods change or when the impulses and temptations come (and they will), we can recognize the ones to be resisting or even fleeing. Unsure of this? Make a serious attempt at practicing some Christian virtues for six weeks and see how you fare.