I wrote this blog over 3 years ago, but I do feel it is still relevant.

I have a confession to make. I own 45 pairs of shoes. I can’t help it, they’re just so pretty! And no, my name is not Imelda and I’m not related to her in any way. Now, I know you’re wondering why I’m making this confession, so please let me put your inquiring mind at ease with an explanation.
I have met a lot of people who are unhappy with what they are currently doing for employment, so many of them want to be doing something “more” or “spiritual” or helping their fellow man, or more importantly, what they love doing, which is all well and good but how do they actually go about it? When speaking with them it’s pretty much the same old stuff that comes up, and this applies to nearly everyone, they can’t afford to do something else. For instance, they can’t afford to not be working full-time, so that means, for instance that they are unable to go and study, or they can’t afford to take a lower paying job even if it’s the job that they have always wanted to do, because they need to earn the income that they’re currently on, which when you put it like that is kind of sad.
This dilemma got me thinking about WHY we can’t afford to study or work in a lower paying job, what is it that costs so much and that we need so desperately we are giving up our happiness for it?
Let me rewind the story back a year or so. I was working as a PA (personal assistant) and earning quite good money, when it comes to administration work, a PA is at the top of the food chain. I was also not really enjoying my job and knew that what I should be doing was working as a Clairvoyant Medium, but like everyone, was in the mindset that I needed to continue earning my high wage. My husband is self-employed and earns quite good money as well. We have one son, who is all grown up and left home, so essentially, we only have ourselves to worry about, well, us and the cat. So, we could afford to go out for lunch every Sunday, maybe dinner through the week and of course, me being able to buy all my pretty shoes! Hubby has guitars and other boy toys and I have to confess we were definitely in the DINKS category. Now this is where the story has its twist. I won’t go into the details, because honestly, they no longer matter, but I will say this, I was put in a situation at work, where I felt I had no option but to resign, so I did. I was now officially unemployed. No income. Funny how not earning money makes you really sit back and look at what you did with what you had, while you had it!
This all took place a couple of weeks before Christmas, so in January, I started to work with my husband as a labourer and was definitely NOT earning the kind of money that I previously was on! So, with my income reduce, I sat down one day and thought about all the things that we had that we no longer needed, for instance Foxtel, it was costing us $110 per month, needless to say it went (may I say hubby is still complaining about not being able to watch the golf!). I opened up my wardrobe and looked at all my clothes and shoes. Then and there, I decided to get rid of anything I had that I didn’t feel confidant or “good” in, another confession, I got rid of a big garbage bag of clothes and I hadn’t made a dent in my wardrobe! I do want to note that I didn’t throw away the clothes but gave them to my mum who works in a second hand clothing store. I even got rid of some shoes, but I still have boxes and boxes of them. How sad is that? Why on earth do I need 45 pairs of shoes and a wardrobe absolutely packed full of clothes? I wash once or twice a week and as we all do, seem to wear the same things over and over again, but for some reason I need enough clothes to not have to wash for a month. After coming to this realisation I was NOT going to buy anything else unless it was really needed or replacing something.
You know what? I didn’t buy anything at all for 6 months! Zilch, Nil, Nahda, Nothing. No matter how sick and tired I was of the clothes and shoes, they were still perfectly fine and I just kept wearing them. I sound a bit like a martyr don’t I? What a hardship I’ve had to endure! The same went for things around the house, hubby wanted to buy a new lounge, now there is absolutely nothing wrong with our current lounge, but it’s a bit old fashioned looking, though comfortable. We went traipsing around the shops and liked a lounge that was black leather and cost $6000. No way was I going to pay $6k for a lounge when there was nothing wrong with ours, in the end I asked my hubby who was he trying to impress with the new lounge? Did we really need it? He came to the same conclusion as me, that it was modern and sleek, but we didn’t really need it and therefore, we didn’t end up buying it. What happened after 6 months I hear you ask? A pair of my dress thongs broke and I had to buy a new pair. But, I did throw out a pair before buying the new, but it’s been over a year and I haven’t bought any clothes!
Consumerism has gone mad, our forefathers used to only buy something to replace a broken item, but first they would try and fix it, yet we just through things away and somehow and somewhere we seem to be pressured into buying new furniture and clothing each season to be ‘fashionable”!
Okay I’ll get off my soapbox and get back to the point of this story. We all seem to hell bent on “keeping up with the Jones’” that we think we need more to live on than what we really do. I also think at times that we’ve mixed up the wants with the needs, take a look at your own life, do you really need Foxtel? Do you really need to go out for dinner a couple of times a week? What about 45 pairs of shoes? If each pair cost me $50 I’ve spent $2,250 on shoes!! That’s ridiculous when you put it like that! I could have put that money onto my mortgage. Speaking of which, do you really need to live in that 4 bedroom home with a swimming pool? How about buying something smaller and reducing your mortgage?
What I hope you do after reading this article, is sit down and make a list of all the things you have that you don’t really need and stop either buying or subscribing to them – allow yourself a little treat, you have to have those, but the point is, you will hopefully, be able to do what it is that makes your heart sing.
Wouldn’t you rather do without all of those shoes, or whatever you’ve accumulated so that you can wake up every morning and enjoy what you do for a living? I know that I love working full-time as a Clairvoyant Medium, it truly is what I am supposed to be doing and I wake up with joy every day wondering what is in store, who I am going to meet and how my angels and guides can help them. I put it out to the universe that if this is what I am supposed to be doing, then make it happen, and low and behold it did. I can’t afford to spend money on new clothes or shoes like I use to do, but I’ve realised that having all those things was stopping me from really enjoying my life.
My wish is for you to do the same.