Life can be a lot like shopping. Some people have no money and never go shopping. Some people have so much money they go shopping and buy it all. Some people go shopping because everyone else is. Some people shop with a plan.
Some people shop as a process. Be those people.
When I was a poor kid, everything seemed like a treasure because I could not choose anything. I only received what I was given. An old black and white tv was the greatest thing ever for many, many years in my life. I did not shop for it. Another family was moving and did not want to pay to move it. Life happens and the worse your situation, the more it seems to happen to you.
After my first job in school, I thought I had money. I bought a stereo and seemingly ever CD imaginable. I bought CDs of musicians I never heard of because the cover looked cool. (Ok, so as a once poor kid I shopped the bargain bin, but still I bought stuff just because I had money.) I have seen rich people in movies buy and buy and buy because they could. I have seen people with money buy every toy imaginable. When life is too easy, people tend to waste resources because they can. I have had moments or phases like this.
I have seen people buy clothes, cars, houses, everything under the sun because their friends were. These people go shopping and have no idea why they buy something, only that everyone else did. I like to think of these people as sheep. They need to be led and follow the worse kinds of people simply because they lead. I try never to be like this.
Some people shop with a plan. They make a list, go get everything on the list, and then repeat. I think a lot of people are on this path. I think they are the majority of people. They do not worry about everyone else, they aren’t poor, they aren’t rich, and they go about their lives in an orderly fashion. Sometimes this is me.
The last bucket I used was people who shop as a process. I feel like this is me. Right now, I am in the process of buying a new desk chair. Its going to take weeks. Now that I have identified the need for something new, I have spent time trying to define the features I want. I went to the store and sat in dozens of choices. I came home and looked up the most promising ones. I refused to pay that much for the “best” choice. Now I am trying to find the same chair cheaper. It may not happen. But I am in the process. My spouse has to sleep between making and acting out almost every purchase decision. It is part of her process. It is a good part, but sometimes she thinks I am hasty in decisions because I go in and buy something. I have generally done my process before the day.
The point is God gave us a brain and we are to use it. (I know I am repeating from last time.) We try to not be tossed every which way by life, we try not to keep up with the Jones (my neighbors on each side are now named The Jones.), we try to follow a plan, and we try to have a process to make our plan. We fail. Know you can fail. Know you will fail. Don’t let it stop you from trying. Create a process, make a plan, and when ready, execute it.