Shopping is good for health!

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Little Miss Shopaholic says, “Shopping is therapeutic!”

First, there is the delighted pleasure, such that you can’t help but showcase your buys to the rest of the world. For example: “I have just ordered my iPod nano!!” The intended effects that these words are meant to evoke in your listener are pleasant disbelief (“What? Really? Wow!”) and some slight envy.

Then, there is the stress reliever. When work, relationships or just plain ‘ol life seems to be getting you down, a funky pair of white and green polka dot wedge heels can do wonders to your mood. And that skirt that fits you so well and costs you so little can bring a little hop to your steps as you walk and a bright grin for strangers. And the thrill of unwrapping the packages of goodies that you bought online can banish any black clouds to the deepest of hell.

This brings me to the next wonderful effect of shopping: it enhances your relationship with the significant other. When he offers to carry your bags while you flip through the racks of clothes, you feel loved. When he tells you how pretty you look when you are trying on stuff, you feel loved. When he massages your tired feet and aching back after a long day, you feel loved. When he picks out stylish clothes for you to try, you feel loved. When he fights the crowd of people in a sale with nary a grumble, you feel loved. LMS thinks that Romancing Singapore should organise a shopping expedition.

Shopping can also turn you into a meticulous person. Let’s take grocery shopping, for instance. While at the supermarket, you walk down aisles and aisles of food, toiletries and other necessities. You then pick out a box of yummy cereal that’s on sale, figuring that you can bring it to work for the second breakfasts that you plan on taking, and a pack of biscuits that seem to be high on carbohydrate content. Just the right foods to help you gain weight. And then, there is that carton of Meiji chocolate milk that you need to boost your calcium intake. And that pack of Cheezels is for….supper.

The point is, you compartmentalise your life when you go shop for things and you become a tidier person. And you become wiser too, when you find out that Watson’s is charging you $2 more for that pack of tampons than other shops.

Buying things can make you a better person too. For example, the purchase of a new pair of gym pants or that new pair of anti-fog, anti-UV goggles will spur you on to go to the gym to work out and swim more often. And tah dah! A healthier (hence, better) person. A new pair of shoes will allow you to work your brain juices thinking of creative ways to wear and re-wear them, which means that you become innovative (and hence, better).

LMS believes wholeheartedly that what with all the positive effects of shopping on the individual, shopping is truly an underrated form of hobby. Amen.