Decluttering the mind.

My friend was recently given a new companion. She is a healthy looking dog, but if you make a sudden move she will cower and slink away. Obviously, someone has beaten her in the past and she is afraid the next beating is just around the corner. She never tried to run away from her previous owner as that was all she knew. My friend would never beat her, but it will take a long timer for him to gain her full trust and for her to realise she is free. If the old owner turned up and called her she would no doubt obediently return to him and the miserable life he represents.

Advertisers, friends, family and society in general, have been telling us since infancy that true happiness is obtained by having a good job, nice house, flash gadgets and so on. For most of us, the reality is debt and self-enforced slavery, but that is all we know so we stick to the game plan. If we try and break away from it, we are often plagued with self-doubt and start believing the old lies all over again and return to the life of consumerism. We made our escape 3 years ago thanks to a frugal lifestyle, but the powerful lies of the media and our consumerist society are constantly baying for us to return. Perhaps we could use this thread to encourage one another to hang in there, speak of our success' and failures and just generally encourage one another to stick to our guns and not return to our previous master. I'd love to hear your stories.