need to simplify

A few days ago, I heard a speaker describe the current economic conditions in the world, claiming that everyone in America is rich. Maybe you don’t have a house or an extra car or spending money to travel, but you probably have clothes on your back and food to eat and a place to lay your head each night. At least I do. And that’s more than a lot of people.

Ever since, I’ve been shockingly aware of just how much I do have. How many pieces of clothing in my closet. How many extra, unused beauty products under my sink. How many books, how many luxuries, how much food wasted in the pantry.

I long to simplify. Step One, for me, was going through the “old clothes” closet where I house items I no longer want or need to wear. Today I took the boxes to Goodwill. My entire trunk was filled with stuff, yet no dent has been made at home. I could do this weekly and still have more than enough to be comfortable.

How can I be a good steward of my resources, minister to people in need and provide just enough for myself? How can I recognize my own overabundance in comparison to glossy billboards and beautiful models and shiny ads? How can I not, for example, get addicted to weekly $25 pedicures (like the first one I had last week)? How can I not want to go shopping and buy new, new clothes? How can I turn my insatiable wanter off?

Filed under a deeper look at life, shopping |