Ever notice that we default to “climbing the ladder” or “looking up the ladder?” Of course I am referring to life, work, wealth, fill in the blank ________. We want that next corporate position, that larger house or that new Jet Ski – don’t we?

Most of us spend our energy “looking up the ladder” and myopically dial into what others have. This becomes our comparative or our unit of measure on what we don’t have.

I was locked in this world dominated unit of measurement in my own life until I hit some rough waters. Yeah going through divorce and loosing almost everything can definitely changes ones perceptive, but do you know what really made me realize that this was a ridiculous unit of measurement?

Going on a mission trip!

A group of us, from the church I was attending at the time, went down to La Chorrera, Panama for 10+ days to help a local pastor of a small village finish building a church. It was one of the most awesome, life changing trips I’ve been on. Here is an entry from my journal:

“This place is the inverse of reality! We have so much in the US, but really have so little! In Panama, they have so little, but truly have so much. The people that I have met are incredibly relationship oriented and have learned to live in the moment. They don’t have the same sense of time that we do. There is a simplicity of life here.”

Did they struggle? Yes, but so do we. By using the “looking up the ladder” standard of measurement…these people were poor, but spending more than a week with these people here are some of the thing I noticed in abundance. Gratitude, thankfulness, relationship, helping thy neighbor, giving, compassionate and contentment.

I’ve learned that that by always “looking up the ladder” we are living life constantly on fast forward and are never content. I’ve also learned that changing our perspective from “looking up the ladder” to “looking down the ladder” can change this!

Let me frame it up this way.

Have you ever complained about how hot or cold it is in your house when there are many who do not have shelter? Have you ever complained about a rainy day ruining an event when many areas of the world is experiencing drought conditions? Your kids complain that they didn’t get an Xbox for Christmas while the homeless go without socks? Always complaining about work and the people you work with while many are without a job. How about complaining about a meal, yet thousands will go to sleep tonight without any food. Here’s a big one…”the grass is greener on the other side.”

This path leads to envy, jealousy and a complete lack of contentment in life. We miss living in the moment and end up missing out on the simple life. I’ve walked it…I know.

Ok, for some of the skeptics reading this post. I’m not saying that it’s easy; doesn’t mean we set a standard and judge others; doesn’t mean we reject all possessions; doesn’t mean we are not worthy of God’s blessings; and we don’t check out of life and ignore what’s happening around us or disconnect from society.

What is does mean is that we need to stop obsessing about those who have more than we do. Stop it!

Sure the cultural narrative today is hypnotic. For instance; “Why shouldn’t I want what others have?”, “I have the right to the good life!” or “I’m entitled!”
Really?

Here’s a challenge for all of us…

How about changing our unit of measure to “looking down the ladder” rather than up? How about stepping into a bit more spiritual maturity by fixing our contentment on Godliness rather than the world’s narrative?

Are you ready to change your perspective?