This is like a slap in the face!
By ahgong
@ahgong (10064)
Singapore
July 6, 2010 1:59am CST
I was surfing the web and found this site about spending wisely.
Spend Based on Who You Are, Not Who You Want to Be
Interesting title right? So I went in to read more.
You can find the article here... http://tinyurl.com/ygxqsh
The article speaks volumes about many of us. And I am sure ALL of us are guilty of some of the things mentioned in the article at some point in our life.
I can summarize the article in the few sentence extract from the article:
[i]"...My problem is that I buy something in order to pursue a hope or a dream, and then expect that this new thing to somehow change who I am...
Buy things as you need them instead of buying them with the expectation that you’ll use them... The first step is to take lessons... But not before"[/i]
I confess. I am one of those who at some point in life, buy something thinking that it will motivate me to become what I imagine I want to be. But many of the stuff never really got off and ended up collecting dust in some corner in the store room.
So... how about you? Are you guilty of that too?
6 responses
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
11 Jul 10
hmm this is a very interesting way of looking at things. why would anyone buy something in the hope of becoming someone else? the things one purchase reflects who one is. isn't that the case for most of us?
i can't think of something, anything, that i have bought in the hope of becoming someone else. does such a thing even exists in the first place? it's not like i'll become an intellect just by dressing like one. 
@inday_lorna1970 (1268)
• United States
7 Jul 10
not really exactly like that..When I buy things it is really needed or I can see that I can earn from it but I am not obsessed to just anyhow buy things just like some people are doing..I always think that it's not easy to find money so I make sure I spend it wisely that I won't regret I spend for it.!
1 person likes this
@mentalward (14690)
• United States
6 Jul 10
Hi ahgong! I've given this discussion some thought before I responded. I honestly can't say I've bought anything that didn't "fit" the ME I am now, except for flower and vegetable seeds.
Every late-Winter/early-Spring, I get innundated with seed catalogues. It gets me so excited to see a new seed catalogue waiting for me in my mailbox! I admit that I've always, and I do mean always, bought more seeds than I have the time to plant them. I have visions of a tremendous garden every year, several times larger than I've ever had. You'd think that, by now, I'd know my limitations, wouldn't you? Nope. I have two shoeboxes filled with seeds that I haven't had time for. 
Fortunately, that's the only thing I can think of that I've bought to fit "who I want to be" and not "who I am." Seeds don't cost much so I haven't emptied out my bank account. 
Every late-Winter/early-Spring, I get innundated with seed catalogues. It gets me so excited to see a new seed catalogue waiting for me in my mailbox! I admit that I've always, and I do mean always, bought more seeds than I have the time to plant them. I have visions of a tremendous garden every year, several times larger than I've ever had. You'd think that, by now, I'd know my limitations, wouldn't you? Nope. I have two shoeboxes filled with seeds that I haven't had time for.
Fortunately, that's the only thing I can think of that I've bought to fit "who I want to be" and not "who I am." Seeds don't cost much so I haven't emptied out my bank account. 1 person likes this
@krajibg (11922)
• Guwahati, India
6 Jul 10
Hi ahgong,
I admit I have not read the whole article from your link but what you have summarized gives me a feeling that one should be happy or contented once things are bought.
I never associate buying things with my hopes and rating or becoming this or that. Some of the things that we buy never get used. Still whatsoever staels my attention I try to possess that for my own satisfaction.
That is all.
1 person likes this
@Candymin (145)
• China
7 Jul 10
Hello, Ahgong.
Generally speaking, I buy things that I really want and need. However, as a young girl, sometimes I do buy something in a irrational impulse or as you say sometimes buy something considering that it will encourage me to make my imagination come true. Hehehe... In comparison, I'm a rational girl in the concept of consumption.
Happy mylotting.
1 person likes this
