ask why so many people want to 'have', 'get' and 'buy' instead of 'be', 'do', 'learn' and 'know', and perhaps make a few people stop and think about it

I have a personal and ultimately positive episode in my life, one that’s helped shape me, I’d like to share it, but I’m slightly worried I wont be able to express myself accurately and be incorrectly judged, oh well, I’ll give it a try…

I experienced what it was like to have the many things I thought I loved slowly destroyed or taken away; it painfully happened bit by bit. I lost my privacy, freedom and piece of mind. At the time I didn’t have the self respect and courage to fight against what was happening.

Finally something made me snap, I found the strength and support to break free from this situation. Being safe again, I found myself in a powerful and unique position, imagine clearing out your entire existence, complete spring clean, everything gone. It gave me an opportunity to assess what I truly missed, what mattered, how should I rebuild my life?

This happened a couple of years ago, I’m now in a balanced, positive place, the experience has shown me what I personally consider valuable.

I value my sense of humour, my amazing music collection, learning and experiencing new things, my freedom and self respect. I’ve regained the friends I thought I had lost and aim to make new friends wisely. I now make every effort to keep in touch and share my life with them; they give me strength and I hope they all know I’m there for them too.

It’s funny, some of the things that were painful to loose at the time, I quickly adapted and learned to live without. Most things are replaceable if missed. Owning a book isn’t important, it’s value is in the knowledge it contains. Any lost book can be borrowed from a library for nothing anyway. Without realizing it, having loads of useless possessions can be a home made emotional dungeon.

It’s amazing to honestly feel free and not guilty about it either.