Sunday, August 14, 2011

Forced Frugality



Frugal living, or frugality, when chosen as an on-purpose lifestyle, is often a blast, however, when frugal living is forced upon us out of necessity or trial, it quickly ceases to be fun.  Frugality as a choice can be compared to going to the lake for a leisurely swim, while forced frugality compares to swimming frantically to prevent drowning.

We learned very quickly that there is a natural difference in attitude when being frugal in order to see the savings account grow vs. being frugal in order to maintain food on the table and pay the utility bills.  Maintaining a right attitude, a positive outlook, is all determined by a choice that the frugal minded person must make.

Being happy and frugal is a choice.  One can be most miserable in times of feast while others choose to be happy in times of famine.  What, you may ask, makes the difference?

One of the  differences  in attitude is determined by the gratefulness one has in their heart toward God for the things that they already possess whether it be little or much.  Often when going through times of lean it becomes very easy to focus on everything that we used to have and not being grateful for the things that God has presently provided.

When we realize that the things that we have are gifted to us by God then when can see the world through a different perspective.

Another reason for a poor attitude with frugality is often due to being centrally focused on ones own problems and self.  While we were going through our time of famine we were reminded by someone that when God gives us something it's intended to channel right through us, like a rope passing through our hands.  When someone decided to hold on to the rope that was intended to flow through their hands they can get very hurt by it.  Often times one chooses in times of famine to hang on more tightly to the rope of what little they have instead of still passing the excess on through and in turn being a blessing to others.

May it be a small challenge to all of us frugal wannabe's- frugal for what ever reason- that we remain thankful for the blessings that God has bestowed upon us and actively seek to be a blessing to others through our frugality.

Here's a few ideas of how to be a blessing to others at little or no cost:
1. Visit a nursing home.  One might be able to take the time to read the Bible and/or pray with one of the people there or maybe just a simple visit will do.  Many in the nursing homes have no company.

2. Actively pray for people and when you do drop them postcard telling them so.  According to the USPS website the cost for mailing a postcard first class is 29 cents.  You  may decide to simply email them instead which can be done at a library for no cost.

3. Offer to help clean your church.  Express to them that your looking for a way to be a blessing and would like to assist in helping out at your church.

4. Volunteer at a local hospital.

5. Invite a neighbor over for dinner.  One is going to eat dinner anyway and the cost of adding 1 or 2 more people at the dinner table isn't very  much.  Remember it doesn't have to be fancy, a friendly and hospitable attitude speaks many more volumes than what does the food.

6. Find someone else that has needs and try to help them out.

Many a stressful times have become depressing and caused a multitudes of health crisis's due to focusing too much on ones own problems and not noticing that others also have problems, some of them being so much worse than our own.  Likewise some beautiful friendships have also been formed during times of famine just due to others being empathetic toward others circumstances.

Remember the Swedish proverb "A sorrow shared is a half a sorrow."




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