Baby Sis and I were out for our morning constitutional and were nearing the home stretch. Heading toward us were three young men all bright and smiley and ready to meet their day head on. I suggested to Baby Sis that we ought to suck it in as they approached so we'd look less like old dowagers out for an airing. As the boys got closer, I noticed one was holding a beer can in his right hand. It was 8:45 a.m.! The grinner greeted us with a friendly hello and proceeded to ask for our help. We stopped and heard that he "needed more beer and couldn't buy it himself...could we help him out?" I laughed and told him I didn't think he needed more beer. Baby Sis held up her cell phone and let him know his mama had just called and told her not to buy him more beer. He was out of luck as he laughed and continued down the street.
I mention this because it caught my attention that the young man didn't say that he wanted beer. His request was made because he "needed" beer. Not even 9:00 a.m. and he "needed" beer!! I don't think so!! I propose that we often use words totally out of context and we do it so often that it loses it's punch. I thought about the things I love...tacos, kitties & puppies, shopping. Yet to love something, according to Webster, it to attach great emotion to that person, place or thing. Loving spaghetti seems a mite strong although I enjoy it very much. I love my children and grandchildren. I love the looks of the new pair of shoes I bought. Love is used so often it's diluted by it's repetition. Same with "need." The boy said he "needed" beer. He might have wanted beer, but he certainly didn't need any, especially being underaged and considering the time of day. I "need" more money, I need to have my hair highlighted, I need to expand my wardrobe...or do I just want this stuff. Again, I use "need" so much that it's meaning is lost in a myraid of wants.
I'm going to watch my words a little more. Hopefully I'll mean what I say and say what I mean. When I say, "I love you," it will carry more weight than my joy over a new purse or dessert that I enjoy. My wants will be wants and my needs will be needs. I might just think before I speak...now there's a thought!
1 comment:
Dave Ramsey says, "Our wants are stuffitis, and our needs are necessities." The hardest part of the program was getting deliverence from the stuffitis. Obviously I failed the program, while my husband was passing with flying colors, until he passed Fry's.
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