Wasted but Not Worn Out

I recently heard a commercial for a furniture store stating  "buy now with no interest until 2025." 

​I had a vision of my parents sitting in their living room years ago and how they would  be shocked to hear how easy it is to furnish your home these days.    In their generation they made purchases when they could afford to and when money ran out they waited and worked hard to earn more before shopping again.   They did not have extra nickels and dimes to waste and their worn recliner chair and couch were proof of that. 

​We have become a want and get it now world where we do not have to wait for anything. 

I am too familiar with the buy now pay later world and the nightmare it created.   I remember days when I purchased not only one shirt, purse, pair of pants and shoes but included all the other colors they came in too.    ​Bigger televisions, upgraded cellphones and the list went on as the spending continued.    So many others had all of these great things and what would they think if I did not keep up?  I acted the way I thought the world expected me to; not the way I really was.
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Through the years the buy now and pay later mentality caught up and all those items that we did not allow to wear out and were long gone to trash or charity  had became anchors that kept Kevin and I stuck.  The items were not worn but we sure were as the bills continued to roll in.

​My fifties have been a year where things got shaken up in many ways.  I realized old ways of doing things were no longer working for me.  It took a lot of work and moments of learning to love myself that I realized designer purses wont make me rich and premium lipstick isn't making me a model.  A friend wrote on face book just the other day that the time on the face of a Rolex watch is the same as a Timex.   Wise words!

​I get asked often why I share my shortcomings with so many people.    The answer is easy;  I wasted too many years wearing a mask to cover up what was really happening inside and in the end it wore me out.   For me  it is now freeing to share my vulnerable imperfect side of myself.    I no longer feel I need things to impress anyone.  I also learned great lessons by working on fixing the feelings that were causing the need to shop.

​Believe me, I am not perfect and still get the urge to splurge.  The solution for me is  I don't watch much television and stay away from QVC and HSN for it is human nature to want nice things.   When the urge visits I look around me at all I have and am grateful I can breathe knowing my life is not busting with stuff I really don't need.

​I still have zillions of things I want to purchase on this new journey.  Movies, pizza, concerts, and plane tickets to visit my family back in New York to name a few.    Making memories are far more precious investments than any shopping mall visit ever could be.

From Monday to Thursday my Mom prepared a new vegetable for dinner and on Friday she threw all the leftovers together and they were mixed for we could not waste them.  She and Dad worked very hard and I did not thank them enough back in the day. 

So I will say my thanks to them now by trying hard to follow in their footsteps and create a new ad for myself  and the headline is:  

The best deals with no interest until 2025 and beyond is: 
​to shop responsibly
slow down and enjoy each day
make loving memories
​on days when down I need to remember stuff doesn't make me beautiful;  I already am
Use it up
​Wear it out
Make it do
​or do without. 
​and when you do watch television walk away during the commercials!!!!!

No more wasted years wearing myself out!!!!!

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