I don't know about you, but there are certain moments in the day, mainly when i am subjected to the Tv media, that i find myself attacked y the sudden and unprovoked urge to get something new. It may be a new phone, a new bag, to sign up to a new website, or eat chocolate (thats a constant) or something like that. but they come on so fast and the thoughts are so powerful. I have come to now realise they are just flashes and to ignore them through years of reflection and meditation centred around how empty material possessions are, but still they hit me. From this i realise why so many people are in debt- because they dont realise its just seeds planted by the media blooming by a little nudge from who knows what or where, and ignorant people just go with whatever their minds tell them to do and thus impulse buy, feel the buyers guilt and feel depressed because they are in debt. I agree sometimes its nice, but my god i have had to work SO hard to train myself not to go with my impulses and buy crao, but i still want to and that sucks! I try to maintain a mindframe of "Do i really need this? How will it better my life and the lives around me?" If i cant come up with a good anwer to these questions I try not to buy it. I have found this has saved me a hell of a lot of money, but its so hard in this commercial society where everybody is constantly presured to buy buy BUY to fit in and be a better person. but remember when we were kids and were content with our favorite stick, stone or tree? How i wish we could return to those days cause i think so many people would be so much happier. I have seen first hand how money can tear families apart and i hate society for that. If we were all a little more content with what is on the inside and happier with ourselves we would not need all the clutter to hide how much we hate or do not know ourselves. I mean - how much better do you feel when you have cleared out your warbrode? Why not do that with your life or your mind?
Thursday 22 January 2009
Why do I always want: surviving in a consumer-centred society
I don't know about you, but there are certain moments in the day, mainly when i am subjected to the Tv media, that i find myself attacked y the sudden and unprovoked urge to get something new. It may be a new phone, a new bag, to sign up to a new website, or eat chocolate (thats a constant) or something like that. but they come on so fast and the thoughts are so powerful. I have come to now realise they are just flashes and to ignore them through years of reflection and meditation centred around how empty material possessions are, but still they hit me. From this i realise why so many people are in debt- because they dont realise its just seeds planted by the media blooming by a little nudge from who knows what or where, and ignorant people just go with whatever their minds tell them to do and thus impulse buy, feel the buyers guilt and feel depressed because they are in debt. I agree sometimes its nice, but my god i have had to work SO hard to train myself not to go with my impulses and buy crao, but i still want to and that sucks! I try to maintain a mindframe of "Do i really need this? How will it better my life and the lives around me?" If i cant come up with a good anwer to these questions I try not to buy it. I have found this has saved me a hell of a lot of money, but its so hard in this commercial society where everybody is constantly presured to buy buy BUY to fit in and be a better person. but remember when we were kids and were content with our favorite stick, stone or tree? How i wish we could return to those days cause i think so many people would be so much happier. I have seen first hand how money can tear families apart and i hate society for that. If we were all a little more content with what is on the inside and happier with ourselves we would not need all the clutter to hide how much we hate or do not know ourselves. I mean - how much better do you feel when you have cleared out your warbrode? Why not do that with your life or your mind?
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Another useful practice is to look at an item and compare the number of hours one would have to work, after taxes, to pay for it. It is harder to buy something that costs you, especially when it is not something you absolutely need, with the same impulse when you realize how much of your time and energy you have invested to have the "expendable" cash. Sometimes, of course, one may determine that the investment is worth the cost and that is fine but bringing the cost to the personal level definitely allows a clear moment of pause.
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