My youngest sister sat for an entrance exam today, to get to college. I celebrated her success with a large milk-shake at a popular fast-food. A costly one, too. Particularly since it came after another “investment” I made, in exchange for some thirty minutes spent in a beauty parlour this morning. Then I found out there were discounts in a lingerie shop and gave way to the temptation of buying a small piece for myself, for what could be considered an excellent price... except, of course, it DID have a price, so it did involve spending money. Should I go on and tell you about the fruit I bought, later in the afternoon, at the supermarket? And how I barely prevailed over the urge to buy myself a cake? Or how I mentally calculated and re-calculated the amounts I had wasted in my horrible spending frenzy?...
I won’t. Suffice it to say that the result of all this was an overwhelming feeling of guilt. I had wasted so much money on things that I didn’t absolutely need, things meant only for my temporary, selfish pleasure... and I felt really crappy about it. ‘Cause not so long ago I had sworn myself to absolute sobriety of spending, I had pledged not to spend one penny for anything that wasn’t essential to life support and maintaining a minimum level and comfort... and there I was, wasting it all because I couldn’t curb my greed for milk-shake and lingerie...
Essentially, this sort of guilt is wrong. No matter how stranded you are from a financial point of view, and no matter how much you keep thinking it’s only a momentary thing, it might take longer than you expected. And you might wake up one day and realize that you’ve passed out on too many chances of indulging yourself in the little pleasures of life. Yes, there are some things that make life worth living, and many of these things don’t cost a thing. But for all of them that do, it’s worth leaving prudence aside every now and then, and launching on a bit of reckless spending. And the best way to keep it under control is by allowing yourself certain dates or occasions when such reckless things are ok, and living such occasions to the fullest. Money are part of our lives, whether we like it or not, and rather than turning them into enemies, we might as well try to balance them into our everyday existence, avoiding excessive grief and guilt. They’re harmful emotions, and next thing you know, you might find you’re willing to drown such emotions in something far more hazardous than some innocent shopping.
I won’t. Suffice it to say that the result of all this was an overwhelming feeling of guilt. I had wasted so much money on things that I didn’t absolutely need, things meant only for my temporary, selfish pleasure... and I felt really crappy about it. ‘Cause not so long ago I had sworn myself to absolute sobriety of spending, I had pledged not to spend one penny for anything that wasn’t essential to life support and maintaining a minimum level and comfort... and there I was, wasting it all because I couldn’t curb my greed for milk-shake and lingerie...
Essentially, this sort of guilt is wrong. No matter how stranded you are from a financial point of view, and no matter how much you keep thinking it’s only a momentary thing, it might take longer than you expected. And you might wake up one day and realize that you’ve passed out on too many chances of indulging yourself in the little pleasures of life. Yes, there are some things that make life worth living, and many of these things don’t cost a thing. But for all of them that do, it’s worth leaving prudence aside every now and then, and launching on a bit of reckless spending. And the best way to keep it under control is by allowing yourself certain dates or occasions when such reckless things are ok, and living such occasions to the fullest. Money are part of our lives, whether we like it or not, and rather than turning them into enemies, we might as well try to balance them into our everyday existence, avoiding excessive grief and guilt. They’re harmful emotions, and next thing you know, you might find you’re willing to drown such emotions in something far more hazardous than some innocent shopping.
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