How often do we consider what we spend in a month? How much of that amount is necessary? I'm not referring to rent, or even groceries. I want you to consider all of the "extra" money you spend. Did you really need to? Probably not. We waste so much money and time on items and luxuries that don't do anything for our well being or our lives. We expend so much energy to keep up appearances that won't matter in 6 months. Why? We love things. We love to have the things to show our friends how cool our things are. Because we don't see the poverty surounding us on both the local level and the global level. We see the newest gadgets.
We live in a world where so much value is placed on the physical things we own or where we live. And coming from a mostly self-supporting college student, it's really hard to keep up with that way of life. The way of life that has you constantly feeling like you need the newest iPhone or watch, just to feel like you belong. The biggest relief I have found is coming to the realization of how arbitrary all of those things are. Even looking back to when I was in 8th grade, I remember getting a phone that wasn't a flip phone for the first time. I for the life of me cannot tell you what it was called. I couldn't tell you what my background was, or what ringtones I had for all of my friends. While in the moment that was the most important thing happening in my eyes, long term, that phone didn't impact a single part of who I am today. But do you want to know what did? Bus rides to basketball games, marching band competitions, and going rollerskating with people I still keep in close contact with today.
So, you ask, if we aren't supposed to spend money on things, what do we use it for?
I'm so glad you asked. SAVE! Life is crazy and you never know what could happen. Why not make the most of your good fortune and put it aside for some crazy situation? Savings account meeting your standards? Look around. There are organization all over that work daily to try and scrape up enough funds to provide for hurting communities and even entire broken nations. Donate. Donate your time, donate your extra money if you can. Make a difference in every way you can.
The day you realize that your life isn't controlled by what you own and who you are ahead of in life is the day you find a whole new type of freedom. When you aren't constanty spending to fit in with your sorority, your fraternity, your friends, or even your coworkers, you will be floored by how much you have left to create memories that will last a true lifetime, because I promise your iPhone won't.
