In the unlikely event of a water landing...

I'm a planner.  And I love a good bargain.

Friday night I meal plan for the week.  I choose my meals and then write my grocery list.

I also have a running "USA"  shopping list.  This is a list of all the stuff I "need", and don't want to forget to pick up when I go back to the States.  Most of this stuff comes from Target, although several other stores contribute to my massively overweight suitcases.

Even though I have lists, in both cases, I always buy more than what's on my list.  Like I said, I'm a sucker for a bargain.  And then I'll see something that I know I use, and I'll just get it.  To stock up.  You know, in the case that, for whatever reason, somehow the world runs out of it.  Visits to the US involve a lot of my time obsessing about shopping, actually.  Things like where, how, what time, when will I go shopping.  How can I get to Target and T.J. Maxx on the same day?  Will they have what I "need" and if not, will I get one final chance to go back before I leave?

If, for whatever reason, somehow the world runs out of it.

Now there's a long shot. In her latest installment in "O" Magazine, my favorite life coach Martha Beck presents her theories about why living this "hoarding" type of lifestyle can make you crazy, and actually create the type of anxiety you are trying to fix by hoarding.  She names this type of lifestyle a "Just in Case Lifestyle," or, JIC for short.

She argues that a  JIC philosophy actually made sense early in human history, when "everything good was scarce" but actually is detrimental in this day and age when "everything good is readily available."  Or, at least we can make that assumption for most people who read the "O" magazine.

Martha argues that a JIC lifetyle leads to excess, which can then lead to a whole host of dysfunctions.  She states, "Most of us are living in some kind of excess; we work too much, eat too much, rack up debt buying too much stuff. Yet, driven by the unconscious, just-in-case assumption that "everything good is scarce," we just keep doing and accumulating more."

Martha further classifies the JIC behaviors into four distinct categories, and argues that JIC contributes to obesity, dysfunctional relationships, cluttered lives (with too much "stuff"), and money anxiety (where even the uber wealthy feel like they don't have enough).  Her rationale is striking, and credible.  Her arguments are sound.  Finally she offers advice on how to replace JIC anxiety with a mindset of abundance.  As a life coach, she has a simple exercise which goes like this:

1. List 10 times you thought that there wouldn't be enough of something and you survived.

2. List 10 areas where you have too much, not too little.

3. List 20—or 50, or 1,000—wonderful things that entered your life just at the right time, with no effort on your part. Start with the little things (oxygen, sunlight, a song on the radio). You'll soon think of bigger ones. Most of my clients realize that the most important things in their lives showed up this way.
 


Does this sound like you?  Even a teeny bit?  As I cannot do the article justice in this simple blog, I implore you to read the whole thing and give this concept a chance.

I'm going to do things differently this next trip to the U.S.  I'm going to focus on specific and definite needs.  I'm going to stick to my list, and I'm not going to let shopping ruin my visit.  I'm going to spend time with my family and friends and enjoy that time.  I already feel more at peace about this trip than I have about all of my previous trips.

If you suffer from any anxiety at all, this simple mindset switch from scarcity to abundance could be the key to unlocking the inner calm that you are desperate for.


Martha Beck's Strategy to Lower Stress