As my husband and I were relaxing on the couch last night during one of our new favorite TV shows, an interesting car commercial came on. I think it was for an Acura, but I cannot be for certain. It showed a magnificent looking man coming out of his luxurious closet into his luxurious bedroom and then heading into his luxurious kitchen. He finally headed out of his luxurious house and got into the 'best' of all his luxuries ... his luxurious car. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
Whose life is that luxurious? The commercial used the word like it was going out of style. And all I could think about was that his life is the complete opposite of mine. I can't name one luxurious item that could be found within this thing we call a home. I started thinking about our mini-van ... our five-year-old blue Honda with stained carpets, trash shoved in the driver's side door (this drives my husband crazy), random substances stuck in between the seats ... not really like the picture on the TV! And my house; my lived in and loved house. It has a story for every mark, every stain, every chip, every toy or colored paper that can be found. For goodness sakes, I'm happy if the house is picked up and the laundry is half-done! Again, this is so far from the luxurious house I saw on the TV last night.
Life is not luxurious. It is not neat. It is not always clean. It is not new (for more than a day or two). Life is tedious and daunting; dirty and messy. Life is runny noses and socks that don't match. Life is saggy (moms you know what I mean) and wrinkled and sometimes bald. Life is unread books stacked up by the nightstand and projects that go unfinished for years. Life is pants with holes and unshaven legs. Life is being down to the last roll of toilet paper (which happened in our house this morning!) and soap scum on the shower. Life is piles of papers and uncut lawns. Life does not and will not fit into a neat little gift-wrapped box.
It's okay. Life is not luxurious and that is okay. We weren't put on this earth to have the perfect life in the perfect house and to drive the perfect car. We weren't born into perfect families or have perfect friends. We can't expect that life will not have hiccups and bumps and major potholes. It will challenge us. It will drive us crazy. It will be difficult.
Knowing that life cannot and should not be luxurious is great in theory. But, it doesn't make our struggles any easier. There was a moment last night when I wished for the perfect house and the perfect car and the perfect life. There are moments when I'm scrolling on Facebook, that I get caught up in the pictures and wish for something better. I have to step back and realize that my life is pretty darn amazing. It's not perfect, but it doesn't have to be. The commercial I saw last night was not real. The things that I see on Facebook don't reveal the struggles behind the photos.
We have to live in our luxurious moments, not our luxurious life. We all have seconds or minutes or even hours where life seems perfect. They don't last, but they exist. They are still perfection in their own little snippet of time. We can't look at a lifetime as being luxurious, but rather enjoy the moments of luxury that come together to define our lives.
The stacks of papers will keep coming. The laundry will keep piling up. The trash in the car will continue to get stashed. The house will continue to get dirty. Relationships will continue to require work. Life will be life. But, it's up to us to embrace the luxury of moment. It's up to us to see the luxuries to do exist within our messy lives.
A long time ago someone really pointed this out to me. I couldn't sit after dinner until dishes were done. My boys didn't know what it was like for mom to lay on the floor and play with them. I realized that all that can wait, the memories of playing games with the boys or just spending time with them was much more important that dishes and laundry.
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