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Cents and Sensibility

We are not our possessions

By
Christa
@ April 10, 2008 8:56 PM Permalink | Comments (23)

As I was watching "Oprah" last night, I was struck by a couple on the show who had lost basically all of their material possessions. They had to file bankruptcy and their house was foreclosed on.

Check out their story here and let me know what you think. They could be anyone in a suburban American neighborhood, and you would have never guessed they were in trouble.

The reason I think their story really resonated with me is because even though I am not in a situation like they were, I have had the realization that "stuff" does not make us happy. In fact, having few things that you truly care for and appreciate is so much more meaningful than having a house full of things and clutter.

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What others are saying

  • IT IS FUNNY HOW MILLIONAIRES ARE TELLING US "WE ARE NOT OUR POSSESSSIONS"

    Biggest joke of the year lol...
    By anonymous @ 09/18/09 04:05:30 PMreport abuse
  • What We Own
    What we own, owns us. If you don't use it at least once a year, then you don't need it.
    By John @ 05/03/09 04:15:05 PMreport abuse
  • We are not our possessions
    Only people that have been there and struggled with this problem can appreciate these stories. thank GOD I have been there and can except it
    By Bill @ 03/14/09 11:45:10 AMreport abuse
  • Confessions
    I've learned so much in the last year since moving into my dream home. I've only started to really have time to enjoy it since I've stopped added items and instead started decluttering. I don't know where I'd be right now without Clark's wisdom. The new movie, "Confessions of a Shopaholic", is a must see. It reiterates what Clark talks about everyday. I hope he'll see it add get millions of his viewers to go too. There's much to be gleaned.
    By Nancy @ 02/17/09 01:53:52 PMreport abuse
  • YOUR STUFF
    I agree with the comments...but like the old addage goes, you are what you eat...and when people feed in to a life of possessions...just like anything else that is bad for you it will kill your identity.
    By Taneicha @ 01/04/09 08:53:37 PMreport abuse
  • Need instead of Greed
    Christa, your comments reveal what a LOT of people I think are learning in todays world. We see a lot of people living for what they can possess. The trouble with that is that MOST of the time, the very things they possess sooner or later begins to possess them. It isn't what we OWN that makes us who we are in this world. It's what OWNS us that makes the real difference in our lives. Possessions aren't bad in themselves, but when they begin to make us feel better than someone else or more successful or MORE anything, then it changes the way we view the whole world. The person you ARE will show in how you treat material things and how you value other people. What we LOVE will be the key to our life in this world. If we LOVE money, things, and comfort, then sooner or later the "evil" of that will run through every vein of our lives. We are to LOVE people and enjoy things. If we truly LOVE people, then the things will just be tools to help and not hinder. Thank you for your thoughts.
    By Robert S @ 10/04/08 01:55:41 PMreport abuse
  • Remember what George George Carlin Said About Stuff .
    Basically it goes like this:

    You house is a place to store all your stuff. It has a lock so you can go out and work so you can buy more stuff. We run out of room and have to buy a bigger house for our stuff.

    I am so glad I have learned that the people in my home are more important than the stuff!

    I love to save
    http://www.savingspotpourri.blogspot.com
    By Savings Assistant @ 08/24/08 11:41:28 AMreport abuse
  • Tifton Reacher Solves Energy Crisis
    Please check out the article in the Tifton Gazzette about the reacher who has found away to solve the energy crisis!!!!!!!!! j C Bell Bell Bio-Energy, Inc.
    By Lydia Anderson @ 06/18/08 05:45:46 PMreport abuse
  • Clark ruined my life
    My wife starting listening to Clark about two months ago, I think she's in love everything is Clark says this, or Clark would be upset if he knew you just spent that much money on a shirt. The light bulbs in my house have been changed, I can't eat lunch out anymore,the water flow to my sinks and toliets have been restricted, I'm worried she will place a restriction on the toliet paper next, Clark you have created a monster I never thought anyone could change her spending habbits, she's even got money on Fridays now.Way to go clark
    By Patrick @ 06/17/08 04:25:54 PMreport abuse
  • Stuff
    It is true what we own owns us. Less is more as in peace of mind and less stress.
    By Eva Frady @ 06/09/08 05:30:09 PMreport abuse
  • Stuff
    A number of years ago, I read an article written by a cancer survivor. She taught me a very valuable lesson. As she was preparing to enter the hospital, she realized that she had so many bathrobes that she couldn't appreciate any of them. She had to choose one that she would wear for her hospital stay and she really had to look at each robe. When she returned home, for the first time, she looked at her largess and decided that she needed only one or two of each thing in order to appreciate what she had. I learned a lot from that article.
    By PCC @ 05/30/08 03:31:54 PMreport abuse
  • Amanda Bynes
    Tell Clark that Amanda Bynes starred in a show called What I like about you, which also starred Jennie Garth of 90210 fame.
    By Jim Clark @ 05/29/08 01:22:53 PMreport abuse
  • Short Sale
    Here is an article you might want to read about short sale. Clark should read this artical and correct or give his own opinion about it on his show.

    http://homebuying.about.com/od/4closureshortsales/qt/060907SScredit.htm
    By Lee @ 05/26/08 04:18:17 PMreport abuse
  • We are not our pocessions
    It took a house fire for me to realize that I was different person than my posessions. The best part is that I can make choices about what I am shopping for based on needs rather than wants. With this thinking.

    It is funny that by losing everything(We has no insurance to help with the loss.) I was able to stop spending money.

    Our communities would be a lot better if more people learned to purchase their needs and only part of their wants. Then as we could start saving money.
    By Darla @ 05/14/08 07:47:18 PMreport abuse
  • Stuff
    There's actually some good info here, and it is entertaining, just look beyond the eco-propaganda.

    http://www.storyofstuff.com/
    By SanFranciscoKevin @ 05/13/08 02:28:49 AMreport abuse
  • another great book to check out....
    Affluenza by DeGraff (&etc). Written in early 2000's changed my life. I highly recommend it. Also on the documentary channel there is a "20/20 like" documentary by the authors also called Affluenza. Both are entertaining too!
    By Jennifer @ 05/01/08 02:53:10 PMreport abuse
  • what we own vs. what we do
    Amen, Christa! Our self worth being tied to what we own vs. what we do has gotten out of hand. I once heard Maria Shriver say of her mother, Eunice Shriver, (founder of Special Olympics), "I NEVER saw my mother excited about a new dress or a new pair of shoes." Think about that -- and what that tells/teaches our kids.
    By Kira Perdue @ 05/01/08 08:57:26 AMreport abuse
  • Good News Network Featured your show's link
    Hi there,

    Just wanted to mention that the Good News Network featured some positive news that Clark wrote about. It's on the front page today, Sunday, and filed in the business section.

    see it at:
    http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/business/general/green-jobs-for-ex-cons.html
    or find it by Googling "good news"... where my site is #1.

    Also check out the Top 10 Good News for Earth Day for show great show ideas for Earth Day:
    http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/earth/general/top-ten-earthday-08.html

    I doing a bunch of radio shows Tuesday on Earth day...

    btw, a reader of mine submitted your link this morning, which is how I came to link to the Clark Howard show.
    By Geri Weis-Corbley @ 04/20/08 08:07:58 AMreport abuse
  • your comments
    Thanks for all of your comments. I think that we as Americans are conditioned from an early age to equate success with stuff.

    I am a big believer in continuous improvement, but I think I used to think buying that great outfit or that nice piece of furniture would somehow "improve" my day, home, or life. I now realize I am happier with fewer things that I cherish.
    By Christa @ 04/15/08 04:40:51 PMreport abuse
  • Our Possesions Own Us
    Hi Christa and welcome to the blogosphere! You can't be a big Clark fan (like myself) without being a Christa fan too. I appreciate what you do over there at TCHS; which allows Clark to be of so much value to myself and others. I also love it when you chime-in, your commentary provides great balance, and the best is when you set Clark straight and put him in his place.

    Christa, I learned not too long ago and only after much struggle and hardship, that our stuff owns us because in my mind: Stuff = Obligations.

    I think it's terribly sad that lives are spent working for wages to afford the initial cost of unnecessary stuff, only to then spend even more time, money and worry maintaining that stuff unnecessarily. It's not baseball; shopping is our national past time. When I walk my dog and glance into open garages, I witness the symptom mindless consumption. Stuff, clogging the lives of dissatisfied people, just like the plaque that clogs their arteries. They are both slow poison. The garage becomes the final resting place of stuff that often times is still earning interest for the credit card companies. The result is perpetual wage enslavement; few will ever know true freedom.

    Now I know this sounds dire, because it is. It's only natural, people seek meaning in their lives only they’re not going to find it at the mall, but they will keep trying. So people continue to pursue that elusive goal of happiness when they should realize that what they really seek is freedom. If they would only pursue freedom as their goal, they could then be open to the possibility of happiness and their ultimate success would be much more certain.
    SanFranKevin
    FYI: 3 great books of which TCHS needs to be aware,
    “The Road To 850” (RE: FICO'08)
    “Gotcha Capitalism” (We are being robbed blind) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17898418
    “Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill)” (This will raise your blood-pressure) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17808622
    By SanFriscoKevin @ 04/15/08 02:35:51 PMreport abuse
  • "stuff"
    My 8 year old is really getting to where she is all about her possessions as a way of feeling better about herself... not good. We got here a cellphone(for MY peace of mind while she is with family & friends), and she's really played it up. "I want my friends to be jealous" she says.
    Recently she found an old PDA of mine, and asked if she could have it. It is left over from when I was more about having more toys to make my life better(didn't work). She carries it around, and can't wait to show off to her friends. I hope she can learn these lessons early. I think for now I'm going to let her get whatever "high" she can from it, then I'll be there to point it out when the PDA is forgotten. Maybe I'll help her sell it on craigslist at that time, and give her the money? I think that'll be a pretty good lesson.
    By Will @ 04/15/08 11:16:23 AMreport abuse
  • CHRISTA'S BLOG
    Why can't people be content with someting thay can afford? Does not matter how much you make or have made if you lose it all(if you owed you did not really own it). We need to live more like survivors of the Depression, those folks save and make full use of everything and re-use it . Debt is really a four letter word to many older Americans.I apreciate my Mother instilling that value in me.
    By Lew @ 04/12/08 06:29:11 PMreport abuse
  • CHRISTA'S BLOG
    ...definitely...now we have so much junk and material possessions, we have to buy new houses to store all the junk.......I threw away 17 bags of junk I will never use, and have not used since 1985......our material society makes us pack rats.....
    By JOHN @ 04/11/08 11:59:47 PMreport abuse
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