The other day I was taking some photos for work and was standing at the employee parking lot.  My back was to this fence as I took my photos for the buildings.  Before I packed up my camera I turned to look at the fence that surrounded the property and took this photo.  As I looked across the fence into the connecting land, I thought of this old saying, the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

          Have you ever felt like this?  Have you ever looked at someone else’s life and said to yourself, they have it so much better than I do.  We will look at their house, their car, their job, their mate and think to ourselves that what they have is better than what we have.  We stand on our side of the fence and look with envy at our neighbor’s yard and say; their grass is greener than mine.  This reminds me of what Erma Bombeck said; the grass is always greener over the septic tank.

          How sad that we take this precious gift we call life and instead of enjoying it, we squander it away and treat it as if it was of little value, wishing we where somewhere else.  We fail to enjoy the many beautiful things God has placed in our lives, simply because we stand at the fences we have built around us and peer through the hedge trying to keep up with the Jones.  If they get a shinier thingamajig than we currently have, then we are no longer content with ours.  Soon it spirals out of control and we find ourselves totally unsatisfied and disillusioned with our lives.

          Our fences have become our prisons.  Did you ever realize that the person who builds a fence always fences more out than he fences in?  We should spend our time building bridges instead of fences anyway; let us stop throwing our lives away gazing through the fence at what we do not have and begin truly enjoying what we already have.  Then perhaps we might come to realize that fences have nothing to do with it; the grass is only greener where you mow it, fertilize it, water it, and take care of it.  The best things of life (Greener grass) come when we put our energy and attention into the things that really matter.

Something to think about:

• By the time a person gets into greener pastures, he usually can’t climb the fence.

• Start where you are. Distant fields always look greener, but opportunity lies right where you are. Take advantage of every opportunity of service.

• The grass may be greener on the other side of the fence but you still have to mow it.

• The grass is always greener where the fence isn't.

• If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher

• The grass is always greener on the other side, until you jump the fence and see the weeds up close.

Your fence-less friend
Rickey Moore