Lose the Clutter, Lose the Weight Read Online Free PDF

them. But now she realizes she’s comparing herself to wealthier, glitzier people, so when she gets a case of shoe lust, she tells herself, “There’s that thing happening again” rather than “Oh, I need new shoes.”
    I love that line: “There’s that thing happening again!” That is exactly the kind of awareness and insight I’m hoping you’ll gain during the 6 weeks of this program. As you read this book, you’ll have the chance to make these sorts of discoveries and gain a deeper understanding of your own motivations.
    You’ve been manipulated for too long by clever marketing and the allure of owning more. However, with more stuff comes more stress, more demands to clean and care for objects, and more credit card statements with scary numbers—realities you might not have pictured while you were dreaming of all those “promises” this stuff would deliver!
    Though marketing plays a substantial role in making you want more stuff, it’s not the only factor driving you to add to your clutter.
    DARE TO COMPARE
    My mother used to tell me that no matter what I had, someone out there would always be better off than me. I didn’t fully realize how true that was until I started meeting people around the world in my current job, and I saw them exhausting themselves trying to attain what others had. The moment you start judging what you have against the possessions of others is the moment you set yourself on a road of dissatisfaction and unhappiness.
    The things you own should help you create the life
you
want—and that shouldn’t have anything to do with other people’s lives. “Comparison is the death of joy,” a wise person once said. (This is sometimes attributed to Mark Twain, while Teddy Roosevelt is quoted saying a similar sentiment. Whoever said it, it’s true!)
    Needless Acquisitions
    That “promise” you see in your mind when you think about buying a new possession is just one of many thoughts you attach to objects. We also apply powerful emotions to the things we buy or receive as gifts. And once one ofthese hard-hitting emotions gets attached to an item—even a cheap, ridiculous item you should
never
treasure—it surrounds the object like a magnetic field that sticks to you. Some examples:
    You can’t say no. People express their love, their respect, and their admiration by giving
stuff
. You get married, you have a baby, or you move into a new home, and people will buy you things. When you simply invite people over for a meal, they’ll bring you something. Even if it’s just a bottle of wine, you have to make room for this gift somewhere.
    You might tell your close friends and family members that you don’t want all this stuff. But they’re likely to blink nervously and think,
How can we express our love, respect, and admiration if we don’t buy something for her? Anyway, she’s just being polite. We’ll keep buying her gifts
. Or you might feel like it’s rude to tell people not to buy you gifts. You might think,
Why go to this hassle? Why not just accept the gift? I can always find room somewhere
.
    You buy stuff for your family to show your affection. On the other window open on my computer screen right now, I’m looking at two lists of customary anniversary gifts—traditional and modern. The traditional list starts with a paper gift on the first anniversary, then builds to gold on the 50th and diamond on the 60th. The modern list is front-loaded with more expensive stuff for the first 10 years of marriage, like china, appliances, silverware, and diamond jewelry (perhaps because so few stay married for 60 years?).
    These lists suggest that society takes gift-giving seriously. Perhaps you’ve bought into it. Maybe you buy an anniversary gift for your spouse, as well as birthday gifts, holiday gifts, a Mother’s or Father’s Day gift, cheering-up gifts,