I am a shopaholic... No, WAS a shopaholic. I used to be (guilty). But I guess, I always used to be one, ever since my parents started taking me shopping with them (guilty again). I was that kid who’d see something really fancy and plead to my parents with my puppy eyes to get me that. And of course, they didn’t. And then I'd have to wait for some special occasions, like my birthday or Christmas, to buy me those (absolutely unnecessary + ridiculous) things that I've been eyeing the whole year. And things are very hard to get if you are not the only child. I have a sibling and having siblings means you’ll get presents together i.e. when you get a present, so will your siblings and vice versa. So that means, more the number of siblings, more money required and less the chances of getting that one slender Barbie doll dressed in a pretty pink dress with blonde hair and ocean blue eyes, which you know, will one day end up under your bed covered in cobwebs only to be discovered on the day you clean your room before you move out. Yup, sad reality but I was too naïve to understand that as a kid.
I still remember the times when we'd go shopping and I'd have to sneak some things into the shopping basket without my brother noticing them. And then at the checkout counter, as we take out each item from the basket to pay, almost instantly, my brother would recognize the gray PJ bottoms at one corner of the basket, that none of us (except me, of course) decided on buying and give me that face which says “Put it back right this instance!” to which I'd grin like the Grinch (wink). Later on, it was even hard to sneak away from the grocery section to the clothing area without being stopped halfway by my beloved brother or sometimes I almost make it to grabbing that beautiful dress and turn around only to be discovered by my brother who’d be standing behind me like a ghost from the conjuring franchise!
Ever since the pandemic hit this planet worse than 20 comets at once, walking down that the clothing aisle with sparkling dresses all around me had been a long-lost fantasy. But due to the “online shopping malls” available to be used in the comfort of our own homes while lounging in our PJs we’ve been wearing for the past three days, nothing is stopping us from being a shopaholic, again. So, I shopped for books, groceries, clothes, makeup, and certain other unnecessary things again until one day when my dad asked me “Do you really need all these?” And that’s when it hit me, like lighting... I was going shopaholic again and that I had to stop. And luckily, since then, I haven't been one lately and I didn’t have to freeze my credit card in the freezer like in the movie to be a non-shopaholic although that would have been funny to look back at one day.
Shopping is great but sometimes you just got to put a limit on it. You’ll learn to move forward by being content with what you have and not what you don’t have.
But like I said, I wasn’t enlightened with this thought that quick. I did do a fair bit of shopping before I realized my follies. So, if you are a shopaholic, fret not, someday hopefully you’ll stop too! Till then, try not to search for those cute clothes online ;)
See ya!
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