Pride of Ownership. Has it been Forgotten?

When I was a kid I had quite the He-Man collection. I remember that every time that I picked one up to play with I had to put it right back in it’s spot when I was done. That included cleaning of the character and appropriate placement of the weapons. They were mine and I was going to make sure that they stayed in the very best condition possible.

25 Years later I was able to hand over that very same collection of He-Man toys to my son. I am not so happy to report that he does not treat them in the same manner that I did. He has broken a few and left them to be stepped on in the middle of the night.

After several weeks of watching the deterioration of something I worked so hard to keep up for so many years I started to ask myself; What has happened to Pride of Ownership? Has It been forgotten? We live in a generation that is spoiled rotten. As soon as we are tired of something we discard it or let it go to crap. I am absolutely guilty of this. I hate my car and because I do not like my car I fail to take care of it. The problem with that is it is a BMW and they are very nice vehicles. I should feel lucky to have it yet I don’t act that way.

Have we gotten that way about our houses? My grandparents generation bought a home and they lived in it for years to come. They did small upgrades over time as they were needed. My parents generation bought within their means and they have upgraded overtime as they could afford to do what they wanted to do. My generation upgrades immediately more than necessary and sometimes to the point that we have over-improved for the area. Then we get tired of the upgrades because they are not the latest and greatest until we can replace them. I have seen beautiful Hot-tubs go to waste. I have also seen ;landscape go by the wayside for no reason.

When we fail to take pride in what we have we not only fail ourselves but we fail our nbeighbors. We are briniging down their value as well. We fail to set an example for others that we must feel blessed for everything we have. I know that it is time to look in the mirror on this as well as have a sit down with the kids. Our house becomes engulfed with toys that we do not play with all because with thought we needed more. Less is More. Take back the Pride we once had in ownership. Treat everything we have as a classic Mustang. After all, it can be taken from you in an instance. Let’s learn our lesson from the foreclosure mess that we have seen and take pride in what we have so we do not have to go through the pain of losing it!