If Retail Therapy's Wrong...I Don't Wanna Be Right

I've done this since I've had my own money to spend. I'll have a bad day or a bad week or a bad month. Then, the feeling creeps up on me like laughter, starting somewhere deep inside and travels up my spine until I just have to let it burst out. It's a compellingly strong urge - certainly comparable to what a migrating butterfly must feel at the end of the summer. I must...go...shopping!

Now, before you send me for a good dose of Prozac, let me explain that this is exactly my point. We all have our ups and downs. It's as natural as anything and God gave most of us the proper brain chemicals to deal with adversity and pull ourselves back together.

He also gave us multiple other ways to make ourselves feel better. There's exercise (not a big favorite of mine but I will acknowledge it's value). There's friendship (also known as counseling if you pay for it). There's church (a personal favorite of mine as well). Then, much newer to the antistress/antidepression scene, there's retail therapy.

My disclaimer is here: I'm not talking about the kind of shopping that causes you to make late mortgage payments. I'm talking about a few new things. A new sweater, a new pair of shoes, a new tube of lipstick. The fact is, I feel like a million bucks when I carry a new purse and wear a new pair of sunglasses. The key word here being FEEL. YOU are in charge of the way you FEEL.

Maybe it's the time spent wandering around looking that takes my mind of whatever it is that I almost chose to feel bad about. Sometimes I even get to shop by myself. Being a mom of a 2-year-old and 3-year-old, that's a rarity, so maybe it's that, too. Regardless, I think a little shopping is good for the soul. Anybody wanna go to the mall?