Once upon a time, I believed happiness came from buying things.  Shiny, designer things; expensive or not so expensive things.  I bought into the old notion of “she who dies with the most toys wins.”  I even had a T-shirt with that inscription on it back in the 80s.   I thought owning stuff gave me a sense of importance and self-esteem.
I shopped till I dropped, and although I did feel that sense of exhilaration when walking out of the stores with tons of bags, that high soon dissipated and left me feeling empty. This led to a painful cycle and downward spiral of always wanting to buy more.  I even chose a career path ( corporate law) that in some ways enabled me to become a compulsive shopper. The harder I worked, the more clothes and shoes I could stuff into my closet. I was living like Robin Sharma before he became the Monk who sold his Ferrari.