In the 1940’s and 50’s the average square footage of a house for a family was 1100 sq. ft. In 2002 the avg. was 2340 sq. ft. This just goes to show us how blessed we are in this country today. This is unthinkable to most people in other parts of the world. But we have become so used to this blessing, that we have come to expect it…as if we deserve it.
So often we are stuck in the rut of being ungrateful and always wanting more. It has become an obsession in American society. But how is it that children in 3rd world countries can be seen with huge smiles on their faces when shown the simplest acts of kindness, when they are living in such a desolate land? It’s about perspective.
A story that was inspiring to me came from an older lady who is a friend of mine. She told me about how her and her 4 sisters slept in a small room and they all slept on a bed made of 2 double beds pushed together. They didn’t have a closet, just a shelf with a sheet draped around it where clothes for all 5 girls fit. She used to stand behind a sheet beside this little makeshift armoire and pray to the Lord. She said her sisters were so happy when she got married and moved out because they had more room in the bed. Most families today avoid having more than one child in a room, let alone 5 sisters in one bed. She is a beautiful women who has done well in life and is well adjusted. This is how she grew up in the 40’s.
People living during the depression often (of course, not always) were content and even thrived. People learned to do skills with great quality and precision that we don’t see very often today. People often had much less to work with which made them ration things and become creative with everything they had. They had a mentality of zero waste. What would it look like for us to have zero waste? What could we do different in our homes? In what ways could we see this immediately benefit us? Why is this a good mentality to get into?
Could we repurpose our things or live without like some of these people did? Does each one of our children need their own room? Is there a lot of wasted room in our home? Do we have a bunch of un-used junk laying around? Are we sharing our things with our neighbors, always honoring each other and helping out? These are traits commonly characterized by people from this era. There was a general mentality of looking out for each other. Being kind, respectful and classy in public and honoring others above themselves.
Things we could do differently could be things like re-using sandwich bags, using hand me down clothes and other items, saving scrap material for sewing projects, cleaning rags and napkins, figuring out ways to have less garbage (buy less, which also saves money)etc.. You could immediately see this benefit you in multiple ways. You can save money by not having to buy things because you used something until it wore out, or made do without it or re-purposed something. And you immediately have the sense of being a good steward of the earth. Not to mention, less clutter and more organization, if you learn to live on less.
Our culture today is obsessed with consumerism. There is so much waste, It is not sustainable. But it can do everyone good to save some money and be more resourceful with what they have. It can also teach us gratitude for what we do have. In a time of me me me, now now now, people want more and more stuff to make them “happy”, when they are really just chasing the wind. We need to find joy and contentment in what we already have. If people had contentment when they had little to nothing back in the day, how much more can we have gratitude with our abundant blessings today?
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