Elephants KNOW what to do with their trunks...
do you??
Why, Why, WHY???
Do I have SO much stuff?
What is the very thing, the feeling, the body sensation, that causes me to pick the item up in the first place?
I love it, need to possess it,
I’ll find the perfect place
in my house
car
yard
office
garage
shed
basement
attic
crawl space
somewhere in someone’s life that is remotely connected to me may need it
I can always use another goodie in my Gift Box (wondrous things people will love.)
The THING THAT I HAD TO HAVE could very well end up in my closet, hidden away (with the price tag still on it) placed in the SHAME BOX, ‘cause I bought one more thing that I
DON’T NEED.
Really.
There are many ways in which to uncover the bottom-line, the past, untrained piece of my brain that has a need or want that gets triggered when I collect more stuff.
In a Tapping Session (there is another Tapping Summit coming up…http://www.thetappingsolution.com/ don't you dare miss it!!) I discovered the loss and grief that I'd experienced as a middle child in a crowd of nine. So often, I didn’t have what I needed, let alone what I wanted in the growing up years, until I moved out of the house for college at 18.
Thirty-seven years later - I realize I continue to NOT have what I WANT, and the focus continues to reflect and put a spotlight on, just that.
I never felt like my emotional needs were met so I consequently I look for stuff to replace that hole.
What a revelation! Is it possible that the kid is propelling the adult to get more stuff?
The shift can be HUGE or little-by-little.
Just for today, I can look at beautiful things - and not pine over them, nor focus on the price tag (if it fell into the CHEAP category, I gave myself permission to buy it, though I didn't even NEED it!)
The emotions were tied directly to the yearning as a child, and not the practical and pragmatic reality that I didn’t even have a space to put the things that I had, let alone anything new.
I have control over this NOW. Not to say that I won’t forget the next time I see something fabulous. It starts with noticing. Owning my OLD philosophy that I can let go of living as though my needs aren’t met. I take ownership of letting go of the previous identity from my childhood that doesn’t work for me anymore.
I feel gratitude for what I have, the confidence for paying attention, catching myself as I reach for the cool stuff. Wow, thanks! I can feel the sensation, the discomfort, then the healthy side nudges me to take a breath. That inaction of leaving it be, makes me happier.
There is plenty of stuff out there.
When you really need it, another like-thing will present itself, maybe it's even better than this one!
Fundamentally, I am committed to look at it with my eyes and not touch with my hands (like I used to warn my daughter before heading into the store.
I have changed the shape of my future. Filling my needs vs my space makes me feel so much more secure.
Awesome!
Eh?
My favorite strategy - buy one thing and donate or give away two things..... or s t r e t c h yourself and buy one, give away ten!!!
Leverage your momentum, the benefit is a new pattern, lowering the stress and gaining a new habit. In the future, you won’t have to think about it so much, you can grin as you see those THINGS and let them lie.
Leave a comment, a thumbs up, thumbs down, what kept you reading, what else do you want to know??
Questions?
I’d love to blog about that.