The Thrifty Life

People tend to take life personally. Fantasies don't come true, jobs turn out to be 5 times bigger once commitments are made, the weather doesn't cooperate and other's attempts to fulfill their fantasies often interfere with our own schemes and dreams. When such events transpire, we feel frustration and disappointment, resentment and anger, all manner of negative responses spring to life as a result of our reactions to life's events.

Those of us who frequent thrift shops and garage sales learn to adopt a particular attitude when “thrifting”. Wants are clearly differentiated from needs, and hopes for specific presents are carried lightly. We enter with eyes wide, scanning shelves and racks for the slightest glint of special. Evaluation proceeds without attachments. When a zipper is found broken, the matching plate has a chip, the lamp doesn't light or the shoe doesn't fit, there's little sense of loss, because we don't own any of it. No time is spent mourning any absence. Focus clings to undiscovered possibilities. The eyes are back on the prowl, fingers feel for finery, feet seek virgin aisles and imagination invents new uses for curiosities – and all of this, usually, with thoughts of friends and family swirling through the racks, to broaden the scope of potential discoveries.

Whatever the spoils of our conquests, at the end of the day, surprise prizes are cherished every bit as much as that rare reward of a wish granted. And this mindset can be propagated.

It's probably not the most practical way to exercise this attitude (unless you happen to own a chain of self storage complexes) but clearly, there are some lessons, imparted through thrifting, worthy of being integrated into daily life. Take things as they come, be happy with what you have, keep your focus on the positive, look for the special in the ordinary, …

Better living through “thrifty” thinking.