More

Have you ever been surrounded by stuff? Not just any old stuff, but your stuff? Your stuff is everywhere. Take a moment and look to your right, now to your left, do you see stuff? Do you see stuff that you don't use? Do you see stuff that is honestly just there to sit there? Like you bought it to sit on top of something else, so that it can collect more stuff that you won't use? This was me a few months ago - sitting in an outdated, hand me down chair, eating a bowl of cereal and looking into my kitchen completely overwhelmed with the mass of stuff that piled onto one counter.

I'm Aubrey. A 21 year old college grad, that has come to the conclusion that bigger and better, is not always better. For so long I have been stuck in this disease that if I could just get the next best thing, I would be happy. I would be content. I would be proud. I would have "it all". I've realized now that obtaining "it all" is not possible. There is always something "more" to get, to have, to chase, to yearn, to long for, to discover, to invent, to be, to become. There is always more - especially when we're talking about stuff.

In my short 21 years on this Earth, I've discovered that more is a rule in this life. It encompasses our lives and we are infatuated with the idea of it. If we could just get that higher paying job so that we could have more - So that we could have bigger and better houses, that can hold more of bigger and better stuff, with bigger and better vehicles, which all require more to maintain, THEN we could be happy. It's a never ending cycle that most of us are caught in. Like hamsters on a wheel we run, and run, and run after more, tasting the joy of purchasing our happiness for a split second before setting our sights on the next best thing.

However, as I sat in that old, 70s flower power, wing back chair, an idea surfaced above the sound of my crunching lucky charms.

"I. Want. More."

No, not more stuff - but more out of my life. I want more time spent not worrying. I want more moments that cannot be captured on Instagram or Facebook, but in my home and with the people I love. I want more inside jokes, better relationships, better health, more adventure, and less stuff. I guess what I'm trying to say here is - I want contentment. I want a bigger and better life.

So my journey to contentment begins with my best friend and husband by my side, one dog, one cat, and our 528sqft home.

Here's to having more.