Shine With Grace

Don’t you like shopping?

I think I still do, once in awhile.  But now I go when I have something specific to buy.

I used to go shopping (and shop) pretty aimlessly.  I bought clothes that I didn’t (and still don’t) wear, bags that I don’t use, lipsticks with colours that I didn’t really like.  And I went for extravagenza, designer brands, expensive items.

If I was not going to wear/use them, why was I buying them?  Maybe because I thoought that I would wear/use them.  Or, more importantly, I went for the thrill of buying them - the enjoyment of that split second.

Did I enjoy it?  I guess so, but the life-span of that feeling was pretty short, especially when the item was not an essential buy but bought on impulse.  Usually the enjoyment/excitment lasted from the time I bought the item, till the first one or two times I used it (if I did use it).

I found that I was most addicted to shopping, so to speak, when I didn’t have a higher goal in life, and when I was not happy.

Then I heard people calling this habit ”shopping therapy”.  Does it work?  Sometimes I guess but mostly doesn’t for what you buy indeed does not solve your problem.  Therefore at most it works like a temporary anti-depressant. 

Having said that I don’t mean I’m against shopping, material things and luxuries.  Nevertheless, it would be very hard for you to feel really fulfilled if you think that that is what brings you happiness - for there is always a new season of fashion, a new series of car, a new generation of computers, a new ipod and a new iphone.  The chase is endless, the comparison is doomed to be painful for there are always people richer than you.   

Am I going to share with you how to quit the shopping habit?  I think you all know what to do, such as making a shopping list, budgeting your money and maintaining a sane mind no matter how the sales flatters you. 

If there is a tip that I want to share with you, it would be finding a cause, a higher cause for your money.  No matter it’s buying a house, starting your own business or travelling the world, when you have a specific aim for saving money, you will find that you urge to shop aimlessly would simply subside.   

Cartoon adpoted from EverydayPeopleCartoons.

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