What Are Your Verbs?

When we pursue the shiny gods of the culture, we spend our lives conjugating three verbs: to want, to have, to achieve.

Shiny Gods, Mike Slaughter*

What are you pursuing in life? We’re all after something, aren’t we?

Maybe you’re looking for the perfect job. Something that pays well, doesn’t cause a lot of stress, and gives you some freedom and flexibility with your time. I think there’s a part of all of us that simply wants to be independently wealthy. Instead of “having” to work, we “get” to work. It’s this pursuit that can make us unsatisfied with life in general. We feel like we’ll never really get to where we want to be, but where we want to be isn’t really as great a place as we imagine in our minds. And so, we keep pursuing.

We want more. We want to have more. We want to achieve more. We never are really satisfied. We never look at what we have and say, “This is enough. I’m going to enjoy the life I have now.”

Why is this? What is this drive, this insatiable hunger? And how can we get past it?

I think, in large part, it has to do with an attitude of gratefulness. We want more because we aren’t happy with what we have in life. We feel like we need the latest and greatest. We can, of course, at least partially, blame this on the advertising industry. We can, of course, at least partially, blame it on the images that people put out on social media.

But, in reality, we have to start within. We are never going to have significant life change if we don’t start within ourselves. Outside matters certainly factor in, but when we boil it down, it’s more about our approach to these outside matters than the matters themselves.

So, let me recommend a different verb for us to use. A different one to help guide our lives: to be. Instead of pursuing, chasing after, relentlessly chasing more “stuff”, what if we focused on who we are instead?

This is a scary endeavor for some people, I realize this. It’s easier to pursue outside interests than to spend time in reflection. But easier does not equal better. So, spend some time this week just “being”. Who we are will far outlast anything we have, want or achieve. Focus on what’s important. Focus on what will last. Focus on you.

*Amazon affiliate link. Great resource for local pastors, or anyone who is looking to dive into stewardship for a bit.