I posted a lot today on Obesity Help about owning what you have, or asserting your right to health. I am a big offender of buying things and not using them. My way cool MIO tracking watch is still in the box. I've lived in my house since June, and today is the first day I've actually taken my coffee AND computer to the sunroom to work, a favorite vision when I first moved here.
Kahlil Gibran said that fearing drought when the well was half full is a thirst that cannot be quenched. And I think my (and probably others obsession with things and gadgets is part of that. I could be cool if I had a MIO watch. I could count calories if I had a Mio. But then, I get it, and apparently am not worthy of a 100 dollar watch (with part of the procedes going to breast cancer).
I have several unopened boxes around my house right now. And it is a habit I first noticed in my ex husband, so it's a habit a loathe. Of course pop psychology says I loathe it in him because I saw it in me. Who knows why I loathe it and does it matter. NO. I'm just procrastinating defining the parameters of my brave thing.
So-here it is and as uaual, it's a multi-parter.
1. I will buy nothng new until I assess whether or not I already own something that will do a satisfactory job. (I've been practicing that anyway, so it's not too brave).
2. I will buy nothing that is not a neccessity until I open every box and put everything I currently have to use.
(that one cause me to have to go visit with a neighbor for a bit)
I think this is a bigger exercise than stuff, clutter or weight loss. It cuts right to the heart of those feelings of inadequacy that I have and have always had. It's very easy to say "Oh, I spend too much money" or "I start things and don't finish them" or "I don't have time" and dismiss the whole thing. It's a lot harder to actually take the stuff out of the box and look at it, and at myself.
That's why I posted it as a brave thing.
Oh, part 3. was posting it BEFORE it was accomplished....heh heh-I caught myself in another little head game, didn't I?
5 comments:
You are so far ahead of me in the brave category. I haven't even had time to think about it. But I too am guilty of buying things I don't need or use ... especially books. I used to order books from amazon several times a week. I've tried to cut down on that habit. Now that I'm paying two mortgages, I'm doing a much better job of not buying things I don't need ... but only because I can't afford them : )
It's not a race! Part of my thought process is that I'm taking on things faster than I can utilize them, just another way of overwhelming myself. Without corporate america to overwhelm me, I seem to be doing it to myself. But I'm working hard to learn and try not to.
Yikes! I was moving things around just the other day and found two boxes I'd never opened of things I'd ordered online months ago. Gee, I must have really wanted them bad, so bad I just stuck them in a corner and didn't even look at them. Rather sad... sigh.
Yeah, I'm taking a break from online stuff. I ordered a bunch of stuff from Target, then went and picked out the same stuff AT the Target, suddenly, in the store, I bought about $100 less than I spent online.
But, I fulfilled my brave thing goal-I tossed out the old stuff before I bought the new. (I had to replace a bunch of kitchen gadgets).
Oh jeez...heheee..I've done that with books too many times. I have so many I forget what all I do have and order one I own yet again!
I go through periods in which I toss out stuff or give it away. But it still piles up. I collect lots of little things for my collages, so that is my excuse for having lots of "junk". But all the new stuff, there is no excuse.
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