Last updated on April 2nd, 2021 at 11:55 am
Let’s end this series on a SLIGHTLY lighter note. This weekend, across North America, it’s a long weekend. (It won’t happen again until 2016, so enjoy it while you can!) And with a long weekend comes the parties, the barbecues and going away on the weekend trips. Good times. And what will there be lots of at all these events? Food. Drink. Things to consume, and not in any small quantity! Racks of ribs. Coolers full of beer! Burgers upon burgers upon heaps of BURGERS! It will be GLORIOUS!!!
But wait.
I know I won’t be the first to tell you that you can have too much of a good thing. We feel it after having a particularly large meal and have to undo a belt since we’re so full and bloated. We feel it the morning after a crazy night of drinking, nursing a hangover and trying to keep close enough to the porcelain throne JUST IN CASE.
It wouldn’t be AS bad, though, if we actually LEARNED from our behaviour. Instead, we make the same mistakes over and over, never really learning our lessons.
These are the joys of gluttony. Consuming more than we require. Consuming when we don’t have a DESIRE to consume. So many of us are guilty of it. Just ONE more drink. JUST one more cookie. And we flaunt it without any shame! Buffets. All-you-can-drink vacations. Bulk shopping for a couple with no children.
Are we insane? Do we really have an innate desire to consume in vast quantities, even when logic tells us that it’s a stupid idea?
Today, I had my own experience with the consequences of gluttony as I moved a bunch of stuff from my parents’ place to Sarah and my home in Toronto. I thought it would be simple—we were moving a desk, my bookshelf, a chair and some books. But what I hadn’t factored in was how many books I’d managed to accumulate over 20 years. Nine bankers’ boxes later, I’d finally put together all the books that were of value to me—but the day wouldn’t be without heavy lifting, having to quickly choose between what would be useful and what was extra baggage, and sorting out what there was that others could make better use of than myself.
I’m happy to say that the story has a happy ending and that the output of my gluttony for material wealth will see donations to different charities of clothes and books, and I learned a lesson about the true meaning of caveat emptor — think before you buy, because I assure you that you won’t need at least 50% of the stuff you’re buying now years down the road. We’ve gone past the mentality of keeping things for heirloom and have moved to getting things that we can consume NOW for immediate gratification.
So why be a glutton? Too much of anything just won’t work for you—don’t you remember in 1997, when the phrase Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems blew up, getting people to dance in clubs worldwide? You’ll be better off with sound judgment and pruning the things that only weigh you down.
So for your health, curb binge drinking and eating when you’re not hungry. Buy less stuff, and that which you do buy, make sure it’s stuff you need and will use. Because if you continue with poor behaviours, racking up a wealth of things that in the long run really don’t matter, there’s only one kind of glutton that you’ll end up being…
…and that’s one for punishment.
183/365
