Years ago, I was going through a bit of a rough patch, so I started reading ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne. Part of the healing process was to make a vision board. On the board you can put a picture of anything that you want in your life, whether it be a new house or a holiday, cash, a car or a caravan. Then every day you look at that board and imagine yourself having or receiving that item or whatever you wish for, but at the same time being thankful for what you already have.
On my board was a book, as I wanted to be an author. I have now nearly written two books, although not at the completion stage, but I am getting there. I put other things, like holidays, friends, and money, but most importantly I wanted a car, a SUV. I focused so hard on that car, day after day, for months on end and guess what? We ended up with a SUV. A lovely looking car, I might add, but I had a bit of an accident in it which meant a recoated alloy wheel, then we nearly had a huge accident on the motorway in it, so it doesn’t particularly bring me joy. It sits on the drive looking all lovely and shiny, exuding wealth and good fortune, but this got me thinking, why is a car such a status symbol? We all do it, we make assumptions about people’s wealth, purely based on what sort of car they have or how nice their house is. I have known people with both, who have been bankrupt, so is this really a true indication of wealth? Let’s face it we all know someone who has the top of the range car and a big house but both are mortgaged and loaned up to the hilt. But on the other hand, I have known people who have considerable wealth but drive around in an old style Volkswagon Polo.
So, are material things a true indication of someone’s wealth? I think not.
Photo by Olav Tvedt on Unsplash
Tina’s writing 
The trouble is, mine’s a trustee at a Men’s Shed but the founder of the Shed also loves these bargains, so they’re constantly in competition with each other over who’s managed to get most value out of their shopping. It’s quite comical listening to them both, as they’re really serious about it!
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Great article, Tina! To me, material things are an indication of how we want other people to see us; they’re part of our identity at a particular moment in time. Do we need material things because we don’t appreciate what we already have? Or maybe we’re of the mindset that we only live once, so we might as well do it/buy it/have it, whether or not we get into debt. Material things are the nice-to-haves in life; they’re certainly not a true indication of one’s wealth, especially today when the advertising world is encouraging people to get into debt so that they can have what they want. Whether they need what they want is another story. My better half always wants to come back from the supermarket with reduced items, especially those less than 10p! He has an old fleece-lined gardening jacket that he wears especially for the occasion, and a woolly hat – which is far too small, looks like a skull cap – that his mum knit him when he was a teenager. The jacket has a fleece hood with a draw string, press studs down the front and some great big holes in the back, where the fleece pokes through. When he goes to the supermarket at the specially appointed time – he knows what time the shop floor staff are out with their reduction tape – they must think of him as someone who lives on the street, because he always comes back home with a bag full or bargains. So in that sense, the staff must see his materials things – the gardening jacket and the woolly hat – as an indication of negative wealth as they see him putting their discounted foods into his basket. Mind you, we’ve had some nice weekend breaks on the savings he makes, so I shouldn’t grumble. But going back to materialism, it’s nice to dream though, Tina. I’m always dreaming of the nice-to-haves, especially after my better half has been shopping!
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I have one at home like that Mary, my husband loves bargain shopping and always went in dressed down. That made me laugh.
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