...deprive

Okay...this word can wear different cloaks. It can relate to food. It can relate to love. It has many different facets. Deprivation is that state of being that can cause a person to head one of two directions: within or without. There is no middle ground to it. If I deprive myself of small luxuries, I will personally get edgy, unsettled, and I will start to feel a slight imprisonment. That may sound a bit narcissistic, but nonetheless, it is reality.

I don't have much pocket change to live on, if you know what I mean, but there is no way I am going to deprive myself of buying a $7 handbag at the thrift store if I see one that just really gets my goat. This doesn't happen that often, but when the opportunity comes around, I take it. You gotta live life still. Surely, that's something more materialistic in the grand scheme of things, but I think I work hard enough in my days to enjoy those little indulgences. I don't deprive myself of the allowance. Nobody is put on this earth to just slave away and not be able to reap some kind of reward for their toil, however small. I must give myself grace and mercy to partake. It's okay. The same goes for food. Fat = flavor...ya gotta love butter. I'm not talking margarine...I'm talking real butter. Real sugar. Real cream. Too many people deprive themselves of those kinds of little luxuries. There is a fine line between indulging and savoring. Deprivation is not keeping us from indulging...it's keeping us from savoring. I say, "Go ahead...eat that tasty treat..." I like to say (and I mean this with all positive regard), "We're all gonna die someday...we might as well enjoy the food on the way out."

When it comes to other types of deprivation, I will just hone in on one, in particular...and it's heavy, but in my opinion, if a person is not dealing with something heavy in life, however small or big...well, is that person really experiencing the depth of life? I'm talking about being deprived of love. The entire world, past, present, and future, is longing and aching and screaming for love. Real love...the kind that bestows dignity and sanctity upon a human being. It's not easy being love-deprived. I have people in my life right now, in the past, and probably will have in the future, who are depriving me of love. These people are depriving me of relationship...it's hard, it's hurtful...so what do I do? Do I deprive them because they're depriving me? That's a big question to chew on. It's challenging to answer. Part of me wants to do that right back at 'em. But where would that get either of us? "Ticket to downtown Nowhere Fast"...that's where. We are placed on this earth to give the love that has been freely given to us. Nobody should be deprived of love. We all learn as we go. Don't deprive someone of knowing who you are. There's bound to be someone who is ready and willing to accept what we have to offer of ourselves...we're all people...we all have something within us that will enrich the life of another person...let it go.

NEXT WEEK: The wind