“During an average month in the United States, we are barraged with literally thousands of messages originating from a variety of sources, the majority of which are designed to get us to buy either a product or an idea. As a result of this media-driven culture, we have millions of people taking on significant amounts of debt just so they can “own” and become attached to and/or burdened by more and more stuff…
I used to participate in a bit of that behavior myself, until one day when I heard Dr. Wayne Dyer talk about the disease called more. This serious affliction results from having a thought like, “I know I’ll be happier or feel more fulfilled if I just have a new home, or car, or stereo, etc.” The reality is that as long as we believe that we need something outside of ourselves to bring us happiness, we will constantly have to buy more things, and that, my friend, is an endless trap…
This does not mean that you need to stop being a consumer of anything other than essential items…it is important for you to keep money circulating in your life. Rather, what you need to do is come to the understanding that whatever you buy is meant to serve you in some way, and that at the most fundamental level you never really own anything in the first place – you just use it. This is because even if you hold the title to something, the fact that you will not live forever means that you never truly own it, since at the moment of your death it will be passed on to someone else anyway.
This is not to suggest that you shouldn’t appreciate or take care of the various goods that you purchase, for it is both sensible and practical that you do. What is important however is to not get so focused on protecting and caring for your possessions that the stuff itself begins to control you.”
Jeff Maziarek, in “Spirituality Simplified”
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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.
