The good news is we can use our thankfulness to overcome the urges to buy a lot of stuff – these urges being created in us by the corporations and purveyors of consumerism. We don’t have to listen to their messages of needing more things at discount (as if spending our money or getting into debt is “saving” money) or needing to buy things for our loved ones to show our love for them.
“We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.”
– Dave Ramsey
Flex Your Gratitude Muscles:
1. When you appreciate everything you DO have, you tend to not want more “stuff.” You realize the important things in life are things like experiences, family, deeper relationships, and the small things in life we often take for granted – sunny days, tall trees, and that delicious cup of coffee or fresh juice.
2. Practice gratitude for everything you have in your life – experiences, opportunities, your health, the beauty all around you and the good people in your life – and you’ll realize you’re already living a “rich” life.
3. When you have an attitude of gratitude, it creates a feeling of abundance within you.
4. When you’re feeling full of gratitude, you’re less likely to subconsciously try to fill emotional holes by treating yourself with gifts and accumulating more stuff.
5. The next time you want to buy something you don’t really need, just keep this simple phrase in mind: “You already have enough.”
6. I’m grateful for what I already have, for the life I’m already living, and so I don’t need more. I can save much more by just not buying anything, and finding joy and contentedness in what I already have.
7. We can show our love for people not by buying them stuff, but by showing our gratitude for them being in our lives: sending them thoughtful letters or notes, giving hugs, spending time with them, playing games indoors and out with them. We will get the impulse to buy more, but that doesn’t mean we need to follow the impulses. We can recognize the more rapid beating of our hearts when we begin to consider a shopping purchase, the excitement that comes from imagining a future with these purchases in our lives. Imagining a future happiness gets us excited!
Instead, we can calm these heart flutters by refocusing our attention on the present. Turn your attention to what’s in front of you, right now, and realize how amazing it is you have all of this in your life. Turn your attention to the people in your life, near and far, and find gratitude for their presence in your heart. Turn to all the fortune you have, materially, monetarily and in spirit, and be grateful it’s there. Be grateful for the opportunity to live life, for the joy you can find in every moment, for the good that’s inside of you right now.
These are what can bring us joy, not future purchases. This moment is all we need, and it is an opportunity for thunderous gratitude. This doesn’t mean we have to be perfect and never splurge on something we want. Rather, these ideas are designed to help us make spending choices consciously and more mindfully, so we feel good about our purchases.
Happy Thanksgiving!
