Halloween 2021: A reminder to look at what you have

Let’s start with an admission: I’m not a big Halloween person, but when my people throw a party and require a costume, I’m always there to support and have fun. That said, since Halloween isn’t really my thing, the likelihood of me spending money on a costume is minimal.

Halloween is always a reminder to assess what I have. And, when I think about it, I’ve been this way for a pretty long time. See for yourself with my 2008 newspaper costume from college.

Since this, I've also been Clark Kent turning into superman and Nicki Minaj (which required the purchasing of a pink wig), but I couldn't find those pictures. These “costume required” moments can do one of two things: they can make me think about all I don’t have and what I need to buy or they can force me to look through what I do have that I haven’t acknowledged. This is where Halloween becomes a life lesson.

How many times have you spiraled down a road of what you need or don’t have? Maybe you need new furniture, new clothes, or new shoes, and there’s nothing wrong with freshening up your house or wardrobe. There is however, something to be said when you constantly feel like what you have isn’t enough. Chances are if you take a real assessment of your possessions, you’ll probably find you have more than you realized. That’s usually what happens to me when it comes to finding a Halloween costume.

It is true that I never have a costume and always need to figure one out to attend the event (and being the same thing year after year is not an option). On the other hand, I have tons of clothes, accessories, and random items in my house, and something can come together to make a costume. This common life intersection is the place where not having everything you want meets having everything you need. Life puts me here often, leaving me with the same two choices: wallowing in the sea of needs or grounding in a field of gratitude and appreciation. Because I don’t like spending money unnecessarily, I often end up doing the latter, and this practice almost always ends with revealing something I have that I totally forgot about.

The moral of the story is do an assessment before you make an addition. When I refused to look outward from a place of “I need more” it forced me to look inward with a perspective of “what I have will meet my need.” This philosophy transfers over to life and business. We often have more inside of and around us than we realize. There’s more than likely something we forgot about or something we haven’t utilized to its fullest potential. And, in the case that something does need to be purchased (like a pink wig), it’s never as much as we originally thought.

Do an assessment before you make an addition.

Last night, I managed to pull off a football player with items I already had in my house. (Shout out to the hand towels that served as shoulder pads and the rubber bands that held them in place, the random knee pads I saw in my basement the other day, socks I borrowed years ago and never returned, and a jersey that was gifted to me in the last decade.) I, personally, think I nailed “best costume.”

If you find yourself in a needy spiral, pause and do a full assessment of the people, items, strengths, etc. that you have around you. I guarantee you will find something you didn’t previously see.