"You get what everyone else gets, you get a lifetime, go!" -MCR
- Lauren Olson
- Feb 15, 2024
- 3 min read
A lifetime can be long, but it can also be short in many ways. I find myself thinking critically about my state of life in my mid-thirties – where do I go from here? Do I stay in my chaotic unscheduled lifestyle, or do I find routine and meaning in little everyday chores and habits? Do I stay in my same job, where my time there has grown stagnant and stressful, or do I take a leap of faith and begin a new career that challenges myself to do better?
As I grow older, I find reading self-help books to be more meaningful and inspirational. I selectively choose the ones I think will make the most impact on my life in its current time in space. I recently read, “A Year of Less,” by author Cait Flanders. This book could not have arrived in my life at a better time – let me explain. “A Year of Less” is about Cait’s inspirational goal of spending less money and saving more of her income. I really struggle with my expenses because I am an emotional buyer. When I get stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious, I take to online shopping to ease my woes. It tends to put me in this vicious cycle of overspending on items I don’t really need and saving very little for my future ahead.
In the book, Cait first discusses how to rid your house of things you don’t use, such as any extra clothes, toiletries, electronics, and everything else extra that you own. She advises you to donate as much as you can and only throw away what can’t be recycled. Sage advice. I ended up donating 3 trash bags full of clothing – whew! What a relief to remove so much clutter from my life. The next step for me is organizing and down grading my art supply closet. Honestly, I am a pack rat when it comes to buying and storing art supplies. I am always buying the latest and trendiest brush pens, markers, fine ink pens as well as all the art mediums you could ever need. I have slowly begun this project by donating some art supplies to the children at my center’s preschool. But the main reason for this project is to stop buying so excessively.
Cait remarks she made some very tight spending goals and they’re not for everyone. That said, I agree with her that they are not for me. However, I take her ideas to heart. For me it’s about the ebbs and flows of shopping by allowing me to reward myself for shopping less, such as buying a couple sweets in my grocery haul or prioritizing items that need to be replaced. I find setting too tight of restrictions puts me in jeopardy of repeating past spending habits.
January has had some success with spending less in the majority of the month, but at the end of the month I really struggled to keep it together. I think my biggest pitfall is my stress levels and I am seeking alternative activities to soothe my overwhelming feelings, such as drawing out my emotions and curling up with a good book. Below is an example of what my anger can look like. This particular outlet has been super helpful and a great release for me.
As I continue into February, I look at the prospects of what changing my career dream looks like for the lifestyle I want to live.
Comments