The Void

Are there people in your life who are never happy with anything?

I have someone in my life like that, a friend whom I’ll call Tess. Tess is never happy with her life although I could go on for hours about her many blessings. She doesn’t see them though; she only sees the things that she doesn’t have. It makes me sad.

People like Tess who find their happiness in materialistic things will never be happy. How can they be? Someone else’s house will always be bigger, someone else’s closet will always have more clothes, etc. It’s like trying to fill a bottomless pit.

Sometimes spending time with Tess aggravates me because her insistent need for more money, more possessions, more attention drives me up the wall. It overshadows her good qualities which are priceless. Also, when someone is constantly harping on how lacking their life is, it makes you question your own. You can’t help but think, “Wow, if she thinks her house is too small, what must she think of mine?”

It would be a lie for me to say that I don’t enjoy material things. I do. But I love the non-material things in my life much more. I wasn’t aggravated this week when I had dinner with Tess. In fact, it made me appreciate my life even more. I love my husband. I have a wonderful, supportive family. I have good friends who make me laugh and a pudgy pink nosed cat who sits in my lap each night. I’m healthy. I have a good job. I could go on and on.

And I’m thankful that I don’t have a void that causes me to be constantly unhappy like my friend. I wish she could fill that void as well.