I have learned much from Eckhart Tolle's book, A New Earth, with the greatest personal lesson being a better understanding of how the ego can create a false sense of self-image and identity. I have been able to identify how an attachment to material possessions had become very self-destructive - both emotionally and physically. I have come to recognize how attached I had become to "things" in an effort to feel better, to reward myself. I see now that I was trying to buy peace and happiness, but instead of finding satisfaction, I was creating a cycle of wanting and "needing" more...no matter how much I had, it was never really enough.

Shopping has always been a hobby, something I've loved to do. But I began to see that it had become something more. The awareness that this was my ego at work... searching for identity and self-worth through possessions, rather than looking for them within. As Tolle so wisely suggests, awareness creates a space between you and "it", and that space can lead to greater presence in the now. This knowledge has enabled me to begin making decisions from a place of logic, rather than the ego.

Now when I shop I find it easier to admire things and leave them there. I am aware that whatever it is, it will not fill any empty places within me, it will not bring me love, or peace. By being more present and grounded I have become more capable of discerning "need" for "want". How liberating and freeing. Thank you Eckhart Tolle for a very valuable life lesson. ~ Andrea :-)