If we did not care about money, or status

Would we drive the car we do?

Would we do the work we do?

Would we have the dreams we have?

Would we marry the woman we have?

Would we have the hobbies we have?

Would we buy the house we have?

Would we wear the clothes we do?

Would we have the friends we have?

Would we laugh about the jokes we hear?

Would we hear the insults we hear?

Would we envy the ones we do?

The extend to which we must answer ‘no’ to some or all of these questions, is our vanity. More accurate, the level of which vanity has a hold on us. The level to which vanity guides our decisions. The level of our self-centeredness. The level to which we love ourself more than others. The level to which we love ourselves more than God. The level to which we are not true to ourselves. The level to which we are chained, maybe even slaves.

If we realize the omni-presence of vanity in all our thoughts, desires and actions, we realize that the antidode must be equally strong. The antidode is love. It is love for God above all and love for our neighbors as we love ourselves. This points our love in the right direction. The right sequence. First God, then our neighbours in the same amount as we love ourselves. So we cannot forget God, nor can we forget our neighbors, nor can we forget ourselves. It is about the right direction, sequence and proportion of our love. When we lose our love for God and our neighbors, vanity remains.