In The Clutches

So I picked up the book the Shoptimism by Lee Eisenberg at the library yesterday. I'm always learning about the dis-ease of compulsive behavior even the seemingly harmless addiction to acquiring. Acquiring differs in my mind from 'hoarding' when the participant is easily able to release the excess. Still the obsession with acquiring items can take up so much 'head space' and time that the focus of one's life drops to the bottom of the list. Here again, a life run on reaction to feelings becomes the ball and chain which prevents us from achieving our dreams. I have learned that one thought must override another if brain change is to be achieved. My old thoughts were "I'll do it later", "I don't feel like it", "I'm so tired", "I'm so depressed." Some thoughts that I've adopted over the years include: "Less is more", "Do it anyway", "Do it now", "Later never comes" and "Picking up is a gift I give myself." As Byron Katie says, "I don't think, I am thought." Bringing my thoughts to consciousness and shifting them has made all the difference to me.