Things or Experiences?

Our resources have many possible destinations. The first and foremost of importance in this society, seems to be paying for one’s basic needs. We need food, electricity, transportations, etc., to live the modern lifestyle that others around us have. Though some of these needs are not necessary, we shall say they are for the sake of this article.

After taking care of our most important needs, we may have the monies available to us, to make our lives a little more comfortable and interesting. Some people invest this excess in things.

Things
There are many kinds of things, but they all come down to two different categories: functional and non-functional.

Functional items are those we can use to accomplish some task, or make our lives more pleasureful on some level. For example, if we are into crafting leather, we would need leather tools. Tools are always functional, though some people may not use the functional items they have available to them.

Have you ever met someone who has a lot of tools, but never uses them? This is actually quite common, and people will claim they may need them someday. In this situation, we have a case of useful items, in a non-useful situation. These tools could very well be serving the interests of someone who really needs them, not sitting on a shelf in the home of the eternal procrastinator.

Music CD’s, movies, books, etc., can all be considered useful. However, all of these items can be gotten through lending programs such as the library, Netflix, downloading services, etc. These are useful resources, but are they worthy of owning? How many times are you going to read that book, or watch that movie? Sure, you may get around to it…someday, but is it worth keeping around to clutter up your life?

Clothes are another useful grouping of items, and we certainly need them, even if we are naturalist! As to whether they are useful or not, depends on how often you wear them. If you have an outfit you may get around to wearing once a year, it is just taking up useful closet space. Having clothes we only wear for rare special occasions, is rather a waste. If you must have an item that is only worn once, such as a bridal gown, or graduation gown, be sure to donate it, so someone else can use it.

Non functional items can include unused items as mentioned above, and what is commonly referred to as nic-nacs. Beanie babies, figurines, sculptures, etc., can all be considered useless items. Having a few of these items around, to help express who you are as a person, can be useful. When we over do it though, we merely are creating clutter, and items that will need to be dusted and maintained.

Some people collect up nic-nacs for their future possible value as collectibles. These kind of collectibles almost never return the investment that you initially put into them. Go over to eBay, and try to unload your Franklin Mint items…and good luck with that. Nic-Nacs are something that really are only useful in moderation, and only if they are a way of expressing yourself as a person.

The more we own, the more we have to maintain. The more we have to maintain, the less time we have to experience other things in life. The question is, do we want things or experiences? I think that we all truly desire experiences, but we get confused, thinking of shopping as the experience. The problem is, shopping is a very short lived experience, and now we are stuck owning what we brought home.

Quite often, people feel an emptiness in their lives, and seek to fill that emptiness with things. They feel good while accumulating the things, but the high is only temporary. A friend of mine used to go out shopping every time he was depressed, and would amass unbelievable quantities of clothes. He owned so many clothes, he could never get around to wearing them all!

Owning a lot of things does not usually expand our experiences and perceptions in life. In truth, it often limits the time we have to grow and expand ourselves, by taking our time up caring for our items.

Experiences
Experiences usually use up less resources than buying or owning things.
Experiences give us something to talk about, and make us more interesting as people. They cut down on medical bills, because we are more active and healthy. When we are busy experiencing, we have little time to get depressed, or dissatisfied with our lives.

Experiences teach us a great deal about the world, and enable us to connect with it on a much deeper level. Through experience we stimulate more areas of our brain, and become more intelligent. Active experiences quite often lead to social interaction, and the making of friends. Friendship is a commodity that can greatly enrich our lives, and rarely will leave us feeling lonely and empty inside.

There are so many things to experience! The possibilities are only limited to your imagination, and there are endless resources available for those with an adventurous heart.

The next time you go to buy something, ask yourself these questions:

Do I need it?

Will I use it?

Will it enrich my life?

In so doing, you limit useless things in your life, and make the money available for real quality experiences. Get out, interact, and have a good time! Have the experience of your life!

[tags]shopping, moderation, simplicity, experiences, events, social interaction, learning, education, depression, health, friendship, philosophy, environmental, self expression, intelligence, shadowmyth, lockergnome [/tags]