May 7, 2008

Wake up laughing

Wake up laughing

Rich Barbie, Poor Barbie - The comparison trap

As a child, did you ever have a nemesis - someone you like but who always seemed to be "one up" on you? If you ran a block, she ran two; if you got a trike, she got a bike. And if you made an A, she made an A+.

Each fall, my neighborhood nemesis, Tammy, and I eagerly watched for the Sears catalog to arrive. When it finally did, we circled our Christmas wish lists with an ink pen, beginning with the toy page, then moving onto bikes and eventually to home furnishings (you've never too young to register your china pattern, you know.)

One year when I was about six years old, I asked for the Super Barbie Camping Van, partly because it fit my tomboy personality. But make no mistake, tomboy or not, I (vicariously through my Barbie doll) still had my cap set on Ken, I felt that he, being an outdoorsy sort of guy, would really dig my new camper.

So that Christmas morning, I proudly hauled my brand-spanking-new orange and pink Super Barbie Camper down the street to Tammy's house. I know she had asked for a Barbie house, but I was reasonably sure it was too expensive, even for Tammy's family. And besides, I was happy with my transformable van with pull-out couch, beds and funky fuzzy accent pillows. Yes, I was satisfied until... I walked into Tammy's bedroom. There before my widened-eyes was the mamma of all Barbie houses - a three-storied Super Barbie Penthouse with working elevator. Suddenly, my warm contentment was chilled like the champagne in Rich Barbie's ice bucket. I tired to take it all in stride. After all, my Barbie now had the richest friend in Barbie World, She would not only get to ride in Rich Barbie's elevator but would also ride shotgun in Rich Barbie's silver convertible.

However, as Tammy and I played together that Christmas day, I couldn't shake the feeling of being one-upped again. While Tammy's Barbie mixed cocktails and grilled salmon for a seaside date with Ken, my Barbie mixed lemonade and grilled cheese sandwiches on her camper stove at the local KOA campground. To take the one-upmanship a notch higher, Tammy had enough outfits and accessories to fit a dozen shoe boxes. On any given day, Rich Barbie could offer Ken a trip to Alps for skiing, a jaunt to Cancun for sunning, or a visit to the England countryside for horseback riding. And she could provide equipment for matching outfits for both of them. While Rich Barbie was whisking Ken to the airport in her convertible, Poor Barbie was back at camp, cleaning the van's port-a-potty.

In about an hour, the joy of my new toy had dissipated into discontent. It wasn't the I wanted the penthouse but more than Tammy had a way of flaunting her stuff and insinuating that her Barbie and trapping were better than mine. Ad worse yet, that her stuff would make a happier Ken.

I'm now about forty years old. I have to confess that sometimes I'm not too far removed from the six-year-old girl I used to be, who often felt like Secondhand Rose in Tammy's presence. Why is it so easy to feel small and insecure around others who have bigger, better houses, cars, clothes and grown up toys?

The Bible clearly says where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also (Matthew 6:21). That sounds good in sermons but is hard to embrace in real life. The Bible also says our live are only vapors (James 4:14), but we don't see it that way. It's hard to train our hearts and spirits to look past this world and all it offers our senses and to envision a reality we can't see. But God calls us to a higher standard that will set our spirits free.

Sometimes it helps to remind ourselves that we probably have friends who have less that we have and fight their own battles of feeling inferior about us. May our Father teach us simply to love the people He places us with and to watch for and perhaps help with their needs and pain, for richer or poorer.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud... It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corinthians 13:4, 7-8

The sheep's job - our job - is to watch the Shepherd.

Momsooky

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