A Generation of Excess

I’ve had this thought rattling around in my head for quite some time. Lately I’ve been noticing how so many people live a life of excess — especially the younger generation.

Excess food, excess weight, excess time on the internet, excess stuff in the house, etc. Excess seems to be a new norm.

I think about the qualities that permeate our lives but can never be in excess. Love, giving, generosity and humor all seem to be around us, but we do not glorify these. No, for we choose to pursue excess because it fills a void in us.

I don’t think the world was not made to just house, clothe, feed and adulate the egocentric individual. It seems many excessive (narcissistic) individuals can think only about their thoughts, obsessive needs and activities. Helping others, being responsible for their deeds and failures, appears to be beyond them.

By cutting down their excesses, these people may come to realize what their unrealized fantasies are about.

Success is learned from the society we live in, the press is constantly pushing advertisements upon us and cheap fiction and films that all suggest a life of luxury and a ‘’pursuit of happiness,’’ provided we are all winners.

We’re so busy filling our head with stuff — worrying about everything we may have forgotten to remember — it seems we can’t even be content to listen to our own thoughts for five minutes, or just be content with our surroundings as we walk down the street.

Things are also faster and more readily available than ever before.

It seems we always want more, and we want it faster — whether it’s being expected to answer work emails at 4 in the morning, or achieve that dream body with a workout that lasts just 20 minutes.

It has become ingrained in us that more is better. More wealth, more clothes, more bedrooms, more love. It is a ‘more’ that is now is taken to an extreme level, the values that a simpler life offers are now endangered.

I am striving to be at peace with what I bring to the world, how I treat others and my understanding of what is achievable. I’m not striving for more. I’m striving for better. I want to get better at my work, and better at writing, and better at saying no.

It think the ultimate danger of this life of excess is that we get to the point where nothing is ever enough. It seems most of us are searching for a level of thrill that is never quite satiated. Reckless, meaningless behavior results as we search for the same level of thrill, never quite satiated.

We are so busy striving for the next thing that we fail to appreciate what we’ve got right in from of our noses. A healthy family, a roof over our heads. The ability to laugh, money to buy food. The love and trust of others.

I would be naïve and dishonest to state that it’s as simple as this but, I ask myself, where does it end? When will it be enough? I know it’s not as simple as this, I would be naïve and dishonest to state that it was, because then no-one would ever go anywhere or achieve anything, but where does it end? Where is the enough?

I’ve been much happier since I decided to demand less of myself. My focus has shifted on making time for things that make me a better person. I’ve been told that my radiance in all other areas improved as a result. If we keep demanding so much of ourselves we’re going to just continue to stretch ourselves until we combust — and then what happens?

This doesn’t mean I have regressed or become a recluse, but I have learned that it’s ok to say “no” to things that don’t align with my priorities. I’m nicer to my friends, more focused at my work, and more appreciative of the world around me.