[This piece is brought to you by my inner monologue.]

God is working so much in our lives recently — specifically by teaching wife and me a balanced combination of contentment and proactivity.

Sound a bit contradictory?

Well, not really.

Contentment is what we keep coming back to regarding lifestyle and overhead.

Our lifestyle is simple and our overhead is low. We continue to feel God calling us to live as such. We thought about moving to a bigger apartment since we’re expanding the team…

But in the end, the peace of contentment won us over and we breathed deeply in relief.

We are staying for now.

Yet at the same time, we have both felt a need to be very proactive and intentional with our time, money, energy, activities, relationships, and even hassle. All of the resources we manage.

We are using productivity tools (Nozbe, Trello, Toggl) combined with calendars and alarms to keep us focused on the tasks at hand. To alert us of the most important things so they don’t get lost in the noise. To reign us in from busyness and work for work’s sake.

We are hussling for Team Ralon‘s sake as well as for personal growth.

It’s in the middle of things you don’t feel like you’re making traction. There is no sense of satisfaction, because you have little to measure your attempts at contentment and productivity against.

No matter.

Slow and steady.

Let me tell you about an old friend. This friend has seen me through hot and cold times, through the wet and the pooring, the muggy and the windy. This friend has been on adventure after adventure with me.

And today, I am officially saying goodbye to that friend, forever.

At this point you’re thinking, “Enough with the intro! What are you talking about? Who is your friend already?!”

Okay, fine — I’m referring to my first pair of motorcycle gloves.

These gloves have been a symbol of a decision made using poor priorities. Recently, they have been reminding me how unintentional of a purchase they were right from the start. They were definitely not the best tool for the job.

When I first started riding motorcycles years ago, Wife and I were fairly money-centered. We made decisions based on what was cheapest or “the best deal.” (There is a time and a place for that mindset, but purchasing motorcycle gear is not it!)

Thus, I found the cheapest motorcycle gloves possible.

The gloves were very cheap on clearance online. They were too big. They were average quality. They were uncomfortable in spots, and not very protective in others. They were a result of prioritizing price above purpose, features, safety, and quality.

But now, I’ve worn them out. It’s time to move on, and abandon this constant reminder of the need to be more intentional with my purchases.

When looking for replacement gloves, I took some time to analyze their intended purpose. I was determined to get the best tool for the job!

I thought through what my needs and wants: meant for hot weather, usable everyday, excellent quality, great protection, technical features, touchscreen compatible fingertips, a simple wrist strap, very comfortable, good airflow, and sensitive feel of the motorcycle controls.

Did you notice that a low price isn’t anywhere in my requirements?

In this particular case, it has no place there. These gloves are fairly priced, and prioritizing money would only compromise or dilute the other requirements.

After picking out, ordering, and trying on ten pairs, I finally found the right gloves — and they weren’t on clearance this time! Now when I put on my gloves, I will remember how important it is to get the best tool for the job.

And how good it feels not to be money-centered anymore.