Abundance deprives us of gratitude

Min Atek

What you need to know:

If you are the one who does the monthly shopping for day to day supplies with your hard-earned money, you will be a lot more mindful on how those items are used

There are things that happen in our lives that stay with us for keeps. There is a scene that often plays out in my head. Our househelp was preparing to do the laundry and as she did, she overly splashed so much washing detergent because there was so much supply of it.

Because the woman of the home always shopped in bulk, it appeared like there was always so much there was not any need to be extra careful with the supplies.

I also often remember the countless times when as holiday-makers, we would cook too much food than was required and the piles of food end up at the garbage bins. Since there was a repeated and ready supply, those actions of ours did not matter really.

When you do not pay for your own water and electricity bills, you will almost always find yourself completely unbothered with how much water you use in the shower or whether to use the electric kettle to boil only a cup of tea.

Similarly, you will find yourself paying for everything in your house, you will probably pay extra attention to how things are used and spent in your apartment. It is highly probable that you will notice even the toothpaste that you put on your toothbrush because every bit counts.

If you are the one who does the monthly shopping for day to day supplies with your hard-earned money, you will be a lot more mindful on how those items are used.

I recently confiscated the clothes of one of the children and the results are interesting. Initially, he threw a feat and repeatedly asked for his clothes back, but after a while, I realised that he became more responsible with whatever was available for him to use.

Suddenly he washed and maintained them, unlike before when they seemingly had limitless options. Abundance does not only cause people to be wasteful. It also limits creativity and innovation.

Abundance takes away the spirit of gratitude and breeds an inflated sense of entitlement - a very bad disease.  Until you live without water running through your taps, you will value the water you collected from the village borehole. Until you do not have electricity, you will not understand what it means to carry a phone without battery backup.

As we go into Christmas, may the spirit of Christmas cause us to be mindful of others and careful not to waste resources. As parents, we have a great responsibility to teach our children how to value resources, how to value time and most importantly, to value people.

It is very easy to take these things for granted when they are readily available. May God help us to be wise with the things placed at our disposal.

A merry and reflective Christmas to you all.