Every day we are bombarded by messages designed to entice us to open our wallets to some product, service, or cause. Some are worthy, some are needed and some are like the Pied Piper. The Trumpet Creeper Vine (Campsis radicans) is a common vine found in the forests of the Southeastern U.S. The photo is of one on our place. It's showy flowers attract hummingbirds. It will grow and cover trees until, eventually, it kills the tree. Have you made the connection with marketing yet?
We each have limited resources within our care. For some it is the weekly paycheck. For others, the available capital may include legacies acquired from family. Sometimes, good stewards will actually save money until they accumulate a sizable sum that is available for investment, or for spending on luxury items. They key, though, is limited resources.
When we allow enticements to continuously draw us to spend on things that are unnecessary or, frivolous, we have less to invest and grow -- no matter our income level. The marketing messages which constantly assail us include subtleties inferring that if we don't have the newest, latest, greatest, then we aren't acceptable to society.
Often, when I pass through a neighborhood, I see garage sales. In every garage sale I see versions of the same cheap "junk" that was once treasured by the purchaser. Piles and piles of it end up in our landfills every day. Yet, we continue to spend and purchase items because the message we allow our mind to receive is that we need it. Once we have it the luster quickly fades and we find it didn't fulfill us at all, but instead, prevented us from something that would perhaps be much more worthy of our hard-earned money.
Don't be enticed by the pretty flowers. They just might be the Devil's Shoestring.
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