Owing Them

Daily Meditation 892–8/9/2024

If you’ve ever been in debt (to be fair, who isn’t) then you know what an acidic, gnawing, slow-rotting sensation it is, looming in the back of our minds similar to the feeling of being watched. It causes a simmering, gradual anxiety behind everything we do.

Yet it also it quasi motivating, as we usually seek to right that balance. Owing a debt in some ways keeps us working hard.

We owe a bank for our home? Well, better bust our butt at work to pay off said home.

We also owe many people in our lives.
Or, at least, we should feel that way.

We owe our wives for how beautifully they fold our clothes.
We owe our husbands for the way in which they upkeep our homes.
We owe our children for their wonder in their perception of the world (also, literally owe them to feed them!).
We owe our bodies for being the very vessel of our souls.
We owe our communities, oftentimes, for the opportunities in parks, downtowns, churches, zoos, and gatherings.

There are many others we perhaps should consider “owing” like this in order that we feel compelled to give back. Just as we should “owe” our spouse for all that they do for us and we give back thoughtlessly…