A BLOOD DRAW and an Eye Opener

This morning I went to get my blood drawn. It was supposed to be an uneventful event.

While existing to get my needed orange juice and coffee, I noticed a couple that we first met after moving to Indiana. We hadn't seen each other for awhile, as they don't live in the area. My husband had existed before me, but had to leave for class, so I picked up the conversation with them. It was good to see them and catch up on their children. They hadn't known that we'd been in D.C. this past year. So, the chat was a free exchange of information. When I was asked what I did this year, I told them I'd worked on my thesis, but was at a loss to know what direction to take it and wondered what would I do with it anyhow, as I was approaching "old age". They laughed and said something to the effect that they had listened to someone talking about becoming millionaires in their 50's! It really took me aback, as I had not thought of this couple ever as seeking after financial gain (and possibly I'm mis-reading them, but...).

What was it that bothered me so? I think that anytime we seek something that we don't have, as a goal, we must always take guard of our hearts. Our hearts are the seat of our values, and they can easily get skewed in a furious pursuit to "get ahead". Our American culture thrives on a fast paced, highly driven, goal-oriented, money-making mentality. This is what our economy is telling us presently in the pursuit of the material.

What has been the costs? The cost are lives. The lives of children who loose their Daddies to the corporation, and/or their Mommies to attain the American Dream. The financially challenged, who through haphazard mortgages, are now seeing their homes in foreclosure. Families whose pursuit of stressful jobs that pay big bucks dissolve the family through divorce. The influx of foreign imports that give Americans cheaper goods so that they can have more at the cost of American jobs and foreign lives. The list could go on and on , but you get my drift.

I am not against the market by any means and I am a female when it comes to enjoying an occassional shopping trip, but I do believe that a good thing can become bad, if we are not careful. This is my concern for American values.