Any DU'ers out there, 55+ looking for a job?

[2naSalit]

97. What I discovered

is that the holidays can be better if the element of capitalism is diminished. My family gets it from my end. Sometimes I send some of them something but usually just TELLING them that I love them and that they mean a great deal to me is enough, and they have learned that I am better off for that perspective... and most have adopted my values on that level.

I go through the degrading feelings from time to time but when I step back and look at what I can do sans the faux peer pressure that is reinforced by the media and advertising, I find I don't need a lot of material stuff and feel good about it. Having lots of things can drive you crazy worrying about how to keep and protect it all. I also realized that some of my prized antiques etc. would be kept better by someone else who had a more secure life. If I valued them as much as I claimed, I decided that they would be safer with someone else and I could use the cash they would render.

I don't have to own everything I like or value.

Our society, dictated to by the corporate persons, has been conditioned to believe that we "need" to have a lot of shit that is just rubbish and ends up cluttering up our lives or filling up a landfill somewhere. Once you can free yourself of that mindset, you can find that a happier, less stressful existence is possible and you can have that too. You have to free your mind from the shackles of the corporate version of what you can have and be rather than be addicted to their latest BS that disses you and goads you into doing their bidding instead of taking care of yourself and your family and friends.

Once I did that, I stopped having debilitating migraines (that can cost $1Ks per episode), panic attacks and serious depression. It feels a little insecure at first but in reality it's much better for you on all levels. I recycle clothes at the clothing bank or yard sales though I buy new underwear and shoes, and I do the same with furniture and other stuff I want... it's either free or pretty inexpensive. We have been conditioned to be intolerant of anything that doesn't feed the jones for convenience and instant gratification by owning the latest thing. Break the chains and be free of that burden, it makes a huge difference in your quality of life and your sense of self worth. It helps you learn to love yourself without the weight of the TeeVee overseers telling you that you suck because you don't want/choose to stay on the treadmill to nowhere.