Do you know that moment when you catch yourself doing something automatically that you were working towards in your life or self development?

A week or so ago, I was in a candle store browsing. I was in a different part of town for the day so indulged in quick walk along the shopping strip. I didn’t need any new candles but I do like to have a smell of unsual scents or combinations that I haven’t smelt before. Beeswax candles seem to be the latest hip product and obviously curious, was something on my radar. In the store, I noticed these little try sized beeswax candle in a little handle-less cup. So cute!

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have thought twice and would have carried this little mint green cup with its small beeswax candle to the counter. I didn’t have to think about where to burn the candle and then added bonus would be this little cute cup.

But something stopped me.

This past year as given me plenty of hours to spend at home. Around all my things. I realised that I had come to have the mindframe of having backups and excess of what I actually use and need. Back up creams, toothpaste, toothfloss and 4 candles. One back up seems ok, but not 3 or 4. Herein lies my realisation that I have enough. I don’t need another candle. Perhaps, I should actually use up all my backups before purchasing anything new?

And so started my journey of finding all my back-ups for a stocktake and placing items out in the open so that I could see and use them.

My new automatic reflex in that candle store has since brought me an inner smile. All this time of creating a ideal way that I want to live in terms of consumerism, to practising it, having an internal dialogue and living it has come to deeply ingrained fruition.

Have you recently started using items that have been sitting around untouched? What are they?

If you want to read more about my journey in consuming more consciously, I wrote about the start of my purposeful consumption journey here. You can find ways to reduce, reuse and reuse clothing here.