It was a bright, warm, sunny summer day in which my family was out picking blueberries. Around us was row after row of beautiful ripe berries, so sweet and succulent that they were falling off the branches in bunches. Each and every one held that crisp taste that seems to smite the senses and fill the mind with summer. Yet as I munch and attempt to fill the nearby bucket, my youngest sister has come to a much different conclusion on the whole situation. She marches up to me and declares that we should have just gotten blueberries from the store.
I could immediately trace the origin point of this thought to the previous night’s bedtime story. I had read one of my childhood favorites, “The Berenstain Bears, The Big Honey Hunt” by Stan and Jan Berenstain. The book’s plot is simply summed up by the following. After running out of honey, Father Bear and Small Bear set out to gather honey, fail, and just go buy more from the store in front of their house.
Thus I began an internal conflict that I seek to present to you. The current state in which many Americans live in is very blessed. Thanks to the many modern conveniences in existence, we can acquire an insane amount of things with such graceful ease that we truly do not have to leave home anymore. Medicine, food, company and much of the world can be brought to you. Perhaps as a society we abuse this though.
We will go back to the blueberries for this. As a family, we could have instead driven our van to a nearby grocery store. We could have not only gotten blueberries but grabbed apples, lettuce, a stereo, a kiddie pool and a kayak. A minimal amount of time would have been spent and we would have gained way more resources than our blueberry trip.
But what value do these things now have? Monetary wise, from the moment of purchase each one dropped. And nothing was really done to earn it. By the sweat of someone else’s labors, we gained. We have no investment in these things. The food will be eaten, the stereo replaced by a newer one, and the kayak forgotten in storage gathering dust.
Instead, though, we went and picked ten pounds of blueberries. They took work. And the work made the taste of each one that much tastier.
Here is my proposal. Before you just go and purchase something, try doing it yourself. Even though the bears ended up buying honey, they still had quite an adventure beforehand. So even if your attempt also ends up with you in a river, know that at least now your purchase will be that much sweeter.
