Sunday on my drive down memory lane I parked on the side of the road and examined this old fence.  No doubt once it was a state of art cattle keeping machine, but that was a long time ago.  Today its wire that should be horizontal and taut is sagging and touching the ground in places; it is rusted, broken and no obstacle to any livestock.  Once upon a time it was impassable and secure; once all that gazed at this sturdy barrier knew it would be difficult to cross, but today it offers no resistance to any who would pass through its borders.  This enclosure that once promised protection, captivity and peace of mind today can deliver nothing but fodder for my photography.

        I try to imagine what this ruined fence must have looked like to the once imprisoned farm animals.  Did images of Alcatraz fill the beast’s thoughts?  Did they constantly gawk at this barrier that stood between them and freedom and yearn for liberty?  Did they constantly stare at the green grass on the other side of the fence and salivate for what they could never have?  Did they daydream their lives away wondering what life would be like if they could simply escape the prison of their ordinary life?  Did they resent and hate this fence for standing between them and the stuff they believed would bring them happiness?

        Strange how much the cows of my imagination are beginning to resemble me (not physically as much as the way I think).  Because I too have looked around at the fences that enclose my life and sometimes felt a little resentment at not having everything I think I want.  I have felt cheated when I selfishly look across the fence and see someone who has more stuff, or better things, or newer gadgets than I do.  Have you ever felt like a prisoner serving an ordinary life sentence?  Do you spend all your days looking through the bars of your discontentment at people who have what you want?  No wonder we are no more satisfied with our lives; we spend so much time grieving for the things which we do not have, that we have no time to rejoice and enjoy the things which we do have.

        The poorest man in the world is the one who always wants more than he has; the one who never realizes that he already has in his possession all he will ever need for happiness.  Let us understanding that if we are not satisfied with what we have, we will never be satisfied with what we want.  If we are not satisfied with a little, we will not be satisfied with much.  The contented man is never poor, the discontented never rich.  Living life richly is a choice; we can choose to enjoy what we have or to complain because of what we do not have.  Choose wisely!

Something to think about:

• True contentment is a real, even an active, virtue—not only affirmative but creative. It is the power of getting out of any situation all there is in it.

• Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.

• Contentment is an inexhaustible treasure.

• A wise man cares not for what he cannot have.

• No man can tell whether he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich.

• Rank and riches are chains of gold, but still chains.

• There are two ways of being rich. One is to have all you want; the other is to be satisfied with what you have.

• When life isn’t the way you like, like it the way it is.

Thankful for my true riches . . . Friends
Rickey Moore