I love my stuff, I won't deny it.
I love my teddy bears that I have had since Seth Sawyer and Nick McGinness gave them to me as get well presents for my back surgery in 9th grade.
I love the random decorations and pictures and books that I can't get rid of.
What can I say, I am sentimental.
However, being here in Thailand has taught me a bit about material possessions. I came here with one large suitcase to get me through 5 months. I had no room decorations, no special comforter (which hurt my feelings to leave at home), no feather pillows or a million movies, and SHOCKER, I am doing just fine.
Granted, I still have internet (most days), and a book to read, but as a whole I have learned that I do not need much to have a happy life. I have learned to line dance, I work out every day, am trying new recipes, found new shows, gone exploring, prayed more and all kinds of other stuff instead of sitting and wasting my time on buying stuff. True I want my comfy pillows and my mattress topper because I might as well be sleeping on the floor seeing as my bed is a rock, but truthfully I think I sleep better on a hard mattress. Something I never would have tried before.
I have closets full of clothes, and yes I miss them some days, but I don't really need them. Heck, I only wore my favorites, while most of my outfits sat in the back for that one maybe special event that I would want to wear them. Like the formal dress I bought (on sale mind you but still) to go to a play with family and Corey. I have a million dresses, did I really need a new one? No, definitely not, but I wanted one so why not. I am by no way saying to not splurge on yourself. If you work hard and have your bills paid then sure buy the dress, I did, so no judgment here. It's just that I had a million other dresses I could of worn, but I wanted a new one. I had a comforter that was great, but my new one was soft and I wanted it so I got it. Guess where it is now...in a trash bag in a closet. I didn't know how much of my materials were superfluous to my needs until I was without all of them.
It is pretty crazy to think that I used to spend so much money on groceries at home, and as a whole America wastes more money on unused groceries than anything else; myself included. "Oh I need a huge jug of milk because what if I need it." Yeah, I might have one bowl of cereal and a glass of chocolate milk. I don't even like milk, so why pay for the big container when I know I won't use it. WHO KNOWS!
My vans hold a very special place in my heart. I have maybe 8 pairs in all different colors. So when coming to Thailand I had to choose one pair to bring. So I did. In almost a month and a half I have worn them once I think. Crazy. I love coke and used to spend tons of money on sodas because they make me happy, okay great, but water is so much cheaper and so much healthier, so more money in my pocket (I still splurge and get a coke sometimes though, because what is life without a cold coke or a cold beer on a hot day-so worth the splurge).
All I am saying is that I have a ton of stuff sitting back home and honestly aside from my bed, and a room that doesn't have centipedes in the shower or lizard poop on the wall, I really don't miss much. I am content with what I have. I will always keep the teddy bears, the relics/clothes/movies/8th grade love notes from boys in my past, my comfy bed and my books but really I can't imagine going back to a room full of stuff I don't need. I guess that may be growing up or getting boring, not sure which one it is, but it's pretty nice having only what I need and not everything I want.
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