Do you feel you’re not “good enough” to use nice things?

It was a beautiful art umbrella that had been wrapped tightly in plastic for years. I asked my client if she might consider using it instead of storing it away. She hesitated before saying, “It might get wet.” Recognizing the irony, she paused before adding, “Somehow I feel like I’m not good enough to use it.” 

Another client pulled out various items that were still new, never used. “That’s my mom again, putting away the gifts we were given because they were too good for us to use.” Later she texted, “Now that I’m unpacking this stuff physically it has made me do some mental unpacking. I’m sure that message that ‘we don’t deserve to use nice things’ has impacted my self-confidence and how I look at certain items.”

Sound familiar?

What’s the point of having beautiful items if they stay packed away in a closet, never to see the light of day? How does that honor the item, or the person who gave it to you?

I encouraged the first client to see the umbrella as a sacrament of grace – an outward sign of grace that doesn’t need to be earned. No one needs to be “good enough” to use and enjoy nice things.

Using and enjoying beautiful things brings light and joy into our lives. Couldn’t we all use a little more of that?