Meghan Kosar
I love the city. I live in Chicago with my husband, Brad, and desire to be a city-dweller forever. I love the city because of it forces community. It perfectly illustrates the contrast between what is ugly and what is beautiful in the world. I am 27 and work for a faith-based non-profit helping build and develop community. I feel that people have a strong and instinctual desire to know people and be known. Essentially, people want to matter. I spend my spare time fighting between sarcasm and satire, reading everything I can get my hands on, shopping, or enjoying a cup of coffee/glass of wine with friends. Blogging for Every Monday Matters allows me to combine three of my passions: writing, expressing my opinion, and helping others recognize their potential to change the world.
The Latest From Meghan Kosar
The Comparison Game
The comparison game. We are all guilty of it. We pass someone on the street and we begin to think “what would my life be like if I were in her shoes? Those are some pretty nice shoes. I bet she has a great life.”
Or we see our boss and think, “if only I had her job I would be accomplished” or “I would do a much better job if I were in charge”
I admit it—I do it. On the treadmill I find myself increasing my speed just so I am not being left in the dust of the dude next to me. I find myself reading magazines and drawing the absurd “if only” conclusions. If only I had that body. If only I had those things. If only I had that vacation. If only I had that house. If only I had this position in life… What? I’d be complete? I’d be happy? I’d be perfect?
Clearly in these moments a little perspective is needed. As I look to my neighbor, green with envy, and desire what they have, there are hundreds of thousands in Haiti that would love what I have. There are people who would love any job—they wouldn’t complain about mine. The thing is there is nothing inherently wrong with the vacation, the body, or the house. There is nothing wrong with desiring success. But I think you have to stop and question the motive. Why do I want success? What would be true of me once I have all those things? What does it mean if I never have them?
In the end my identity cannot come from the comparison game. It’s the same as running on the treadmill hoping to go somewhere. I can run as hard and as fast as I want, but I am still in the same spot. As Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes, “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” I don’t want to focus on the meaningless. I want to focus on what is important. So I need to go back to what IS true of me. I am a child of God. I am a daughter. I am a wife. I am a sister. I am a writer. I am a friend.
This and so many other qualities are true of me no matter what I accomplish or what I desire. So I focus on that. Unfortunately my effort at the gym is slightly suffering, but something had to change, right?
More Posts By Meghan Kosar
A New Pot
I love the New Year. I love fresh starts.
Yet with each New Year, with each fresh start there is an expectation that things will be different than before. And with that comes change. Change is hard. There is no getting around that one.
As I am embarking on a season of change, navigating the unfamiliar path, [...]
A grateful heart
It’s the week of Thanksgiving. A week filled with family and friends, turkey, pie, good wine, and football. I love Thanksgiving, mostly because it kicks off the holiday season, an entire month of festivities and celebration. Thanksgiving is also a time that we set aside to be thankful for what we have. To celebrate the [...]
Joy
I have been a complainer lately. It starts out subtle- I think complaining thoughts, maybe mutter under my breath. And then slowly I allow my mood to creep into conversations with others until I am officially not fun to engage with any longer. And when I really stop an analyze it: I have very little [...]
A Gift From A Hero
The other day my husband and I were crossing the street when a man, who was crossing from the other side, happened to be wearing an University of Iowa shirt. This is hardly impactful for me, but for my husband who graduated from the school it automatically requires saying: “Go Hawks!”
It was with this greeting [...]
Every bit helps
I have always been fascinated by the weather. As a child I loved to watch movies about natural disasters. I soaked in shows on storm chasers. And even today, I check the weather report a few times a day (good thing there is an app for that!) From a very young age I had a [...]
Second Chances
Last night I was talking with some friends and one brought up do-overs. Specifically would you want to go back and time and have a do-over on life if possible. I thought long and hard about it. Sure there are many things I would change if I had the foresight to see the consequences. I [...]
Power of the Written Word
Today, we have the ability to communicate, in multiple forms, literally at our fingertips. From my iPhone I can place a phone call, text, email, tweet, facebook, blog, and skype…just to name a few. And while I love (love my phone a little too much) that I have the freedom and ability to tap into technology anywhere, [...]
The Right to Matter
For me, reading the newspaper can be stressful. For every heart warming story of kittens being rescued from trees there are at least ten stories of pain, suffering, and heartache. For every uplifting column there are usually a few more filled with name-calling, strong words, and harsh banter.
So with all the debate looming around the [...]
My Heart Matters
August 9, 2009 by Meghan
Filed under Blog, Uncategorized
I just had a hard conversation with a friend/co-worker. It was one of those conversations where the other person thinks this is a normal everyday dialogue, but the weight of the words exchanged is deeply affecting you. Do you ever have moments like that? Where what’s not a big deal for someone else is a [...]
