Fall In Love Before You Buy

I don't know about you, but I have been known to purchase an item that I don't really love all that much.

Maybe I'm in a hurry and waited too long to get a dress for an event, and now I need to find one TODAY.

Or maybe it was such a good sale...who cares if it isn't quite 'me?'

Or I'm tired of shopping and just want to get the thing and be done with it.

But you know as well as I do that when you buy something like that, you usually don't love it. It ends up sitting in the closet, or hiding in the back of the cupboard, unused, unworn, and unloved.

(And then you come to one of my calls to learn how to get rid of that thing, right? :) That thing you paid good money for and feel bad that you never used it or enjoyed it...when the truth is you never loved it in the first place.)

You can prevent a lot of that angst by checking up front to make sure you are in love with whatever that thing is before you lay down your money to buy it.

You know the feeling...your heart goes pitter-patter...you smile without even realizing it...you feel giddy...

That's the feeling to look for before you buy something.

And believe me, you can feel that way about something as simple as a wooden spoon, or as big as a car.

I had this falling in love experience about an hour ago.

I've been looking for a rug for my living room. My entire place is hardwood floors, and as much as I absolutely love hardwood floors, I did want one rug.

Tonight, I found the rug.

I unrolled it at the store so I could see all of it, and I couldn't stop smiling as I looked at it. I took off my shoes so I could walk on it. I lay my color swatches on top of it.

I walked around the store and kept coming back to look at it. I was completely, head-over-heels giddy about this rug.

I hoped it would match. I hoped it would look good in the room.

And all I knew was, I loved this rug.

Once I saw it in my living room, I fell in love with it even more.

My dogs were so excited at having a new playground, they started wrestling on it before I had fully unrolled it, and refused to get off...so I moved the rug into position with 40 combined pounds of terrier on top:

In the last hour, I have gone into the room to look at it a dozen times, and every time I even think about it, I get this goofy smile on my face.

I'll be smiling about that rug next week, next month, and next year.

I'll be happy every time I see it.

I'll feel wonderful looking at it, sitting on it, and playing with the dogs on it.

THAT'S what it feels like to fall in love before you buy.

And I guarantee you, when you fall in love before you buy, it will be one of the best purchases you ever make and it will be worth every penny...whether you bought it on sale or paid full price, whether you shopped at a department store or the local flea market.

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