Mindfulism: How It All Went

It's been one month since I began my No-Shopping Challenge.  As much as I expected to use this report the moderate ups and severe downs of the past 30 days, I did not expect to say this:  It was a (tenuous) success.  I have tried this challenge a number of times over the years, usually with very poor to exactly zero positive results, but this time something was different.  

For the first two weeks I was breezing through and feeling great. I really wasn't tempted beyond what I could manage.  And, you should know that during this month I earned several referral credits at shops I have never earned credit from before and one that I have.  It felt almost deliberate, like some malicious force was trying to tempt me to backslide, especially because they had expirations on them and I felt the pressure to hurry up and use them.  That's the point after all, to pressure us into spending right away.  So, around week 3 I did cave in and use one of my credits for $30, but opted to wait on the others and if they expire, they expire.  

In spite of those enticements, overall, I did well, not perfect, but pretty good and definitely better than I have ever done before.  Maybe I was just in the right mindset; maybe doing all the prep work of decluttering and shopping/spending-tracking really helped to set the stage for success so that I could be fully aware of how much I was engaging in this behavior and when so that I could create a strategy for success.  Whatever the case, this time I finally feel like I am a step closer to my goals.

After about two weeks, I had a pretty big emotional upset as I had to close the door on a dream of mine and resign myself to settling.....I didn't want to shop right away.  I actually wanted to just deal with the feelings.  But, once the feelings subsided and I felt myself settling into the apathy of resignation, that's when I really felt my brain begging me for some kind of a boost, something to look forward to, to distract me, or make me feel hopeful/creative.  I didn't buy, but I definitely did some shopping.  And the funny thing is, I told myself I was, "just looking,"  knowing that the next step is always shopping, so in the end, I had to put away my screens and decided to go clean out my closet again.

Since this challenge has worked so well, I have decided to keep it going for another month.  There is one more thing I should mention.  Even though I was trying not to shop or spend for the month of October, I was still spending money.  I had made several large purchases in September, (my bonus night with Selkie--eesh, I'm still doing the walk of shame over that one) so my bank account was still taking the hit due to the payment plan I set up and I didn't really get to see what kind of savings I could have with no spending.  So, I decided to keep this train going.

The key to any successful habit change is persistence above anything else.  As Will Durant once said, "We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."  So, since I am feeling so empowered and energized by the past month, why stop?  I don't need to go back to the way of life that wasn't working for me emotionally, spatially, or financially, so why would I?