"...you sure look fine..."

I am not cooler because I wear thrifted clothes. I am not better than you because I shop at discarded food grocery stores. I am not better because of my car's mpg or lack of air conditioning. I am not better than you.

I hate it that my friends occasionally keep information about themselves from me because they're afraid that in my thrifty piety, I will judge them harshly. I hate that I put off a vibe that suggests that that is even ever a possibility. That is never my intention, and I welcome any dissenting arguments.

I realized a while ago that my life is my life, and your life is your life. God loves us equally, extends grace to us equally, and we each bear an equally heavy burden. Whether or not this is true is irrelevant to me. Of course, some people's lives are more difficult. Of course there is an inordinate amount of suffering in the world. But life is not a zero-sum game. My happiness does not take away your happiness. My grief does not decrease your grief. And my belief and self-talk which says, "I have it so good. What about all the starving children in Africa?" only increases my self-centeredness and decreases any work I may be doing on feeding the hungry and clothing the naked.

Do I think you should thrift? Absolutely. Do I think you're a terrible person because you don't? Nope. Because for all of my good qualities, I have an equal or greater number of flaws, idiosyncrasies and unloveable traits. I welcome you to this way of being, this openness of soul. Because yes, I am pretty awesome, but I also watch The Bachelor, have terribly messy relationships, and think about myself more often than I think about anyone else.