Episodes of consumerism and alternative treatments

Yesterday I worked at home all day but in the afternoon I got restless. I wanted to get out of the house for a while, but since all chores were done (such as getting water, buying groceries, and walking the dog) and it was raining, James and I got some coffee and drove around to three different transfer sites (dumps) to check if there was anything we wanted to grab. We live in a world where people - myself included - use shopping as a solution to problems. If I am in a bad mood or something unfair happened to me, I can cheer myself up by buying some chocolate or a new sweater. Isn't that weird? I mean, when you really think about it, it's kinda weird. And I don't like that shopping has that effect on me. So I try to avoid using shopping as a treatment, but when that shopping desire really sets in, I try to fill it in alternative ways: by going to the transfer site and getting something "new" or stopping by the second-hand shop to spend 5 dollars on a new sweater instead of 30. And you know what? It has the exact same effect. I feel better when I head home with my "new" sweater and my "new" old edition of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. I might not entirely have risen above the consumer culture I live in, but at least I try to rethink my consumer habits and invent alternative treatments for my episodes of consumerism.