Is It Really Better?

Just because it’s more expensive doesn’t mean it is better.  Well…. sorta…. And what I just said doesn’t necessarily apply to all things.  But I guess we need to ask ourselves is it worth the money?
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So… all my life there are two things in this world I always wanted.  One is a very nice, top of the line baitcasting fishing reel and the other is a nice rice cooker.  And I must say I am very fortunate enough to have both currently right now.  I am a very lucky and blessed person. 

But… was it worth it?  Were the things I bought worth the money? 

The truthful answer is that I am so happy I can get these two devices in my life, but it really wasn’t necessary. 

So, all my life since this technology has come out I always wanted one of these kinds of fishing reels.  That is a Japanese digital chip baitcasting bass fishing reel.  It’s a fishing reel that has a microchip in it that helps manage the speed of the spool on casts to the line coming off the fishing reel.  Ok, that’s a complicated explanation.  Basically, it helps the angler not get line tangles when you fish and make casts.  And bonus, they make a cool noise every time you make a cast.

Now these reels don’t really come cheap.  But I have had one for over a year and has it helped me catch more fish?  Nope.  I don’t feel that I caught more fish with this expensive reel compared to my other more affordable fishing reels.  But I found some advantages for this expensive reel.

For buying this expensive reel I noticed that I could cast a little bit further than my other reels, using the same rod.  Also, it is much easier to cast into the wind, creating less line tangles.  It is also much easier to cast light fishing lures than my other reels, which is a big advantage for me. 

So, is spending more money on a more expensive reel worth it?  Yes, because it might make your time fishing a little bit easier, but also if you expect to catch more fish than you do with cheaper reels, it isn’t worth it. 

But enough of that stuff, now probably the most important expensive item purchased because it is about the family/s wellbeing; that is our expensive rice cooker.  And in our family, we do not go through a day without eating rice.  A rice cooker is an absolute essential in our household.  However, for a long time we have been using just a cheap cooker, and it does what it’s supposed to do… that is cook rice.  However, the disadvantage is that we cannot cook as much rice because that cheaper rice cooker will make the rice dry and go bad if we don’t eat it within a couple of days.  So, what if we get an expensive top of the line rice cooker.  So, we did.

Was it worth it?  Once again… mixed reviews.  It does what it is supposed to do, which is cook rice and nice that we can cook a ton of rice and it will keep it warm and ready to eat for the week.  Not much waste of food, which is great.  But the more expensive rice cooker has so many buttons and gadgets that sometimes gets in the way of just wanting to cook rice.  It talks to us and has so many kinds of settings that if you press the wrong button, I don’t know what it will do.  Sometimes, simple is just better.  For example… I like this rice cooker, but now it is talking to us in Chinese, and I don’t understand what it is saying at all, and my wife and I have no idea how to change it back.  It’s a bit annoying.  I am afraid of fiddling around with the pother buttons in the case that is changes other settings which we got used to.  So… we got an expensive rice cooker that is talking to us in Chinese, and it may be like that for some time. 
So, was it worth it?  If you are just interested in cooking rice, anything will do, you don’t need the most expensive.  However, if you want something that can talk to you in different languages and has a lot of bells and whistles that you might understand down the road… then go for it.

So, the point in this article I am writing to you all is simply to say, sometimes the most expensive thing to buy isn’t always going to be the best.  We should be happy with living simply and being simple.  We do not necessarily need all the added bells and whistles in our life.  Be happy with what you have and don’t envy the stuff you don’t have.  It’s the same way that we should view our relationship with God.

God is with you and loves you the same as all other people.  God blesses you as He does with other people too.  However, sometimes that blessing looks different.  You may notice that some people may have more expensive stuff than you do, but it doesn’t make it better or worse!  God knows what you need in your life and even sprinkles in the stuff you might want.  God wants you to be satisfied with what you have and what you can do for others.  What is essential is that you have the stuff that you already need anyways.

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