Treasure

A couple of days ago I opened a fortune cookie from my Chinese take-out and the small piece of paper inside said, “Treasure what you have.”

It was interesting timing for me because for a few days I’d been focusing on something I didn’t have and feeling pretty sad about it (well, it was actually grief over something I’ve lost). The little fortune felt like a splash of cold water in my face, jolting me out of my frame of mind. 

What seemed to do it was the word “treasure.” It wasn’t “remember” what you have, or “think about” what you have, it was “treasure” -- cherish, hold dear, prize. It spoke to me of more than simply listing the things I had to be grateful for, but of taking it a step even further. Treasuring comes from a deeper place within us. We almost have to stop whatever it is we’re doing to really treasure something, or someone, to quietly think about the precious value they bring to our life.  

I’ve noticed that when we focus on what we don’t have, it weakens us. We feel like our life is “less than.” Like when we say the proverbial glass is half empty, we feel, well . . empty. In that mindset, we’re operating from a deficit. When we recognize what we do have, we get stronger, and when we truly prize those things – when we cherish them -- the connection can strengthen us even more.  

The Bible tells us that Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21); I think many of us have experienced that. As much as I am missing the "treasure” I have lost in my life right now, I don’t want my heart to be there -- with what I don’t have -– I want it to be here, with what I do have.

It was a good note in the cookie. I will probably think about it often in the days to come, particularly when I start drifting into feeling sad again about what’s missing. I’m confident though that I’ll work at remembering what is still here, and holding it very dearly . . . in my heart.

Wishing you quiet moments to treasure what you have,

Kay
www.confidentconflict.com