How are the ghosts of your past still influencing your life?

Oh brother, this message seems very clear to me. I’m still held fast by the poverty in which my childhood was spent. No matter what my true current financial situation, in my mind I’m poor. This results in acquisitional behaviors. Instead of enjoying and using what I already have I focus my energies on acquiring more. I become afraid that I won’t be able to buy new things so I have to do it while I still have the ability.

I realize that my current situation is very different from my childhood, however it doesn’t stop the anxiety and fear of once again being poor. Whenever something shakes my security tree I go on a buying binge to settle it back down again. I think these are the ghosts from my past that still influence my life. Intellectually, I understand that things are different now but that little match girl inside me responds instinctively. Perhaps “shopping my stuff” will help me enjoy what I already own and satisfy that itch that pushes me to buy more.