What Is In Your Basket?

I was at the mall few weeks ago to get some groceries and toiletries that were needed at home. After picking up the things I needed, I stood in the queue, waiting for my turn to make payment.

While I was there, a young lady came and joined the queue but I noticed something. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴. She did this thrice. It was weird at first but then, I realized she was weighing the content of my cart and hers. 

I didn't understand why someone would do something like that but just then, this question popped up in my head: "𝙄𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙙𝙖𝙮? 𝙐𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙨"

Her basket contained few items while mine was full but here's the thing:

She and I came from different places with different needs but somehow on seeing my basket, she, for a moment, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐝!

She became more interested in how my basket was full while hers wasn't.

Now this is crux of the matter: If we exchanged baskets, there is every possibility that my basket would be very useless to her because the contents probably aren't the things she needed.

𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐬!

The social media is a marketplace.

People come with different intentions and they are shopping based on their needs. Don't be caught in this web of comparison thinking that someone else's cart is more attractive whereas you have no need for its contents.

As a matter of fact, people are going to even flash their items to your face but it is left to you to know what you need. Don't let the attractiveness make you think you need it.

Stay focused on why you are in this marketplace called life in the first place and shop for what you need.

And yes, there will be items that you might want but if you cannot afford them at the moment, keep working till you are able to afford them effortlessly. Shop for the ones you can afford now; you can always shop for others later.

Don't let greed make you shop for items you don't need.

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥𝙨, 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚/𝙤𝙛𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙮.

𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐁𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒.

So, I put this question to you:

What is in your basket? Do you have need for some of the items therein or do you need to drop some?

Mary Kay

(Young Adults Ministry)