Beware of Shiny Objects

In a recent trip to the creek, where my lovely wife and I spend time together as often as possible, a beautiful object caught my eye. It wasn’t a trinket, a jewel or anything such as that, but when I looked down into one of the pools of water we visit, I saw a perfectly shaped stone, one that had rounded edges, smooth corners, just the right size to fit into the palm of my hand. I reached into the water, clenched the stone in my fist and brought it to the surface and into the bright sunlight. I flipped it over, rubbed it between my fingers to remove a bit of dirt and grime, and just admired my find. What was I to do with the stone other than to give it a skip across the water? Well, I can tell you, there was no flinging or skipping that happened. So, why was I drawn to it? Hard to say.

Now that I had my treasure in hand, dried off and in my pocket, I was ready to move on from our visit to the creek. After wandering down the creek to make our way back to our bicycles, we proceeded to complete the remainder of our morning exercise ride, the other half of the loop home. Arriving at home and ready to move on with our day, I plopped my slightly damp treasure on the corner of the kitchen table and went on about my business for the day.

Sometime later, when I came past the kitchen table where I frequently travel enroute in and out the back door, I noticed my beautiful stone, except now it wasn’t quite as beautiful. As the water completely dried on its surface, the glossy finish I had seen before wasn’t there. In fact, it looked quite dull, as if it could feel right at home amongst the gravel in the driveway. Nonetheless, I maintained possession of my treasure. Perhaps it would just be a good conversation piece, or at the least, a paper weight.

The dullest rock ever once the shininess of the water evaporated

Isn’t life funny? We tend to see things that grab our attention and emotions, get all worked up, then after a while, when the new wears off and the outer surface grows dull or dim, we lose interest. Other things vie for our attention and as time rolls on, our dull trinkets that we once thought were grand get lost in a drawer, put away in a closet, packed away in the garage.

This is what happens a lot in our part of the world. We give gifts to one another with no thought as to whether the person has a place for it. We see our neighbor’s car, a friend’s shoes or we somehow think our walk-behind mower will no longer do the trick because our buddy next door has a mower that mimics the hot-rod we longed for in high school. Need I say more? Our world is crazy full of stuff we don’t need, don’t use or shouldn’t own. I’ll cease my rant.

So, are you like me, picking up those “rocks” in life you don’t need? You pick up a rock at the creek that may have looked amazing through the magnification of the water. In reality, it could better serve the whole of mankind and nature, as well as the clutter in our lives, to return it to the bottom of the creek from whence it came.

What are the things in your life that need to be thrown back, or thrown out?