The grass ISN'T greener...

It's a cliche phrase we know all too well but are hesitant to utter:

"The grass is greener on the other side."

Yet the tale is as old as time.

A single woman yearns to be married. The newly married woman desires deeply to have kids and start a family. The wife/mother is ready for her teenage kids to leave home and retire with her hubby.

The insecure, modelesque woman thinks she's fat and craves to be beautiful and desirable. The slightly thick woman longs for a thinner body in hopes to be pursued by men.

The young man growing up in want, aspires to be a prosperous, well known athlete or famous in some manner. The wealthy, popular guy feels insecure and lonely though he has everything he wants.

The scenarios go on and though I've not been on both sides of 'the fence', I've experienced one side while confronted with the magnetic pull of the other. In addition, I've lent a sympathetic ear to those on both sides of the same fence. The single person who searches for companionship in the institution of marriage feels the grass they're missing out on will satisfy their longing. Meanwhile, I've heard the spouse, who is weary from the strains and toil necessary to make a marraige work, warn those who are 'free', against the wanting of THEIR grass. All the while revealing their secret appetite for the grass they once partok in.

So which grass is better? Single or Married? Rich or Poor? Thin or Thick?
I contend that no grass is greener than the other. For the grass on 'the other side' is as falsly satisfying as the cool waters of a mirage in a desert.

I agree, however, with the counter-statement "Water the grass on your own side!" This insinuates that until one becomes content with their current state in life, they will never 'be satisfied'. That doesn't mean we have to stay where we are, it simply means contentment is the key to inner peace and security. Each side of the fence (a situation), if you will, has it's own grass (issues) that needs watering (facing and dealing with). So rather than jumping the fence to experience the other side, why not nurture the season of your life you are currently in and celebrate its beauties.

If given the opportunity to venture to the other side, use the same character and wisdom to handle the issues that side presents and take in its beauty and enjoy its fruits!

I often struggle with my season of singleness, longing deeply for the companionship of a partner to do life with. But equally as often, I meditate on those who are married and how they must come home to situations, conversations and events that I (as a single) won't ever have to face. Those once single-minded persons who must now answer to someone and gain permission to do things they once freely did--well that's just not my lot. When I think about those who have lost their spouse to illness or some tragic event; they must deal/cope with a healing from years of attachment & co-dependency that I don't experience. These sobering thoughts bring me back down from the high of desiring marriage. They force me to celebrate my season; embrace it and use it wisely! This is my grass; I must tend to it, water it and frolic on my own lawn!