Sometimes when I’m feeling down, I go shopping. I don’t buy shoes or clothes or furniture like some people do when they indulge in retail therapy though. Oh no. I head to the grocery store. I read the product labels, make my choices and by the time I leave, I’m feeling happy and optimistic. Also I have my grocery shopping done.
If shopping for groceries doesn’t cheer you up, you’re probably not reading labels properly. Follow me as I wander into the snack aisle and I’ll show you what I mean. Here’s a box of crackers that actually says, “Snack with purpose.” Then on the back it says, “Food has the power to transform how you feel. To help you live your life to the fullest.” The label doesn’t come right out and say these crackers will help me live my fullest life, but I think it’s implied. I put the box in my cart. I feel better already.
A bag of kettle-cooked potato chips has the words, “no trans fats” in big, red letters across the label. They may have more salt than a jar of pickles and more calories than a Thanksgiving dinner, but at least they don’t have trans fats. That practically qualifies them as health food and they taste good besides. I grab two bags.
The cereal aisle is a really happy place for me. The boxes are all so pretty and colorful—just like many of the cereals inside of them. Here’s one that boasts “all natural ingredients.” I choose it because I’m a responsible shopper—a responsible shopper with a sweet tooth. And sugar is one of this cereal’s natural ingredients.
I’m thrilled to find that so many products in the beauty aisle are new and improved, and I hope to be too once I use them.
I pick a hand lotion that promises to “even my skin tone, improve its texture and give it radiance.” That’s exactly what I need. Radiance.
I select a deodorant that claims to have “seven times the odor elimination versus no product.” It doesn’t say how that’s measured and I’m not sure I want to know. But who among us wouldn’t prefer to be seven times less smelly? And who among the people we come in contact with wouldn’t prefer that we be that way too? 
I choose the toothpaste that promises to make my teeth whiter in just 30 days. Then I grab the shampoo that claims it can “restore bounce and shine” because, as the label says, “when your hair shines, you shine.” I don’t really need shampoo today but I do want to shine. That way I’ll match my teeth.
Before I leave the beauty aisle, I grab one more item: hair spray that guarantees it will make my hair more manageable. I figure today my hair, tomorrow my life!
I move on to the household aisle where all the products come with fragrances like mountain fresh, springtime, ocean breeze and tropical. It’s almost like being on vacation.
I choose a dishwashing liquid that smells like lavender and promises 50 percent less scrubbing. It doesn’t say 50 percent less scrubbing than what—no soap at all, a competitor’s brand or the same product before it was new and improved. Who cares? The idea of less scrubbing brightens my day almost as much as my purposeful crackers, my colorful cereal and my healthful kettle cooked potato chips.
After all that positivity, I wander over to the produce aisle. The fruits and veggies promise nothing. They have no stickers bragging about their lack of trans fats or artificial colors and preservatives. I stock up anyway. I appreciate their humility. Besides, they’ll make my cart look better if I run into someone I know at the grocery store.