Thursday, June 7, 2012

Excess

This is for Day 7 of a challenge 30 Days of Writing started by Nicky and Mike of We Work For Cheese in which several other bloggers and I are participating for the month of June. Today’s prompt was “ Excess".

Excess: An overabundance of something.

Dependent upon what you have in excess, you can make an argument that excess can be either good or bad.

Examples: 
Good excess... love, friends, family, happy times, having "enough" (which will be different for every person).
Bad excess...having too much to drink, addictions to things like food, smoking, gambling, the amount of $ spent on Kim Kardashian's wedding.

In 1995 a movie Seven came out which was about a serial killer who planned murders corresponding to the seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust, and envy. It was a powerful movie about a twisted sociopathic killer. The killer in the movie (played so well by Kevin Spacey) determined that the excesses needed to be punished.

In today's society we live for excesses, but often we consider them conveniences. Let's face it, no matter how much we have... we always want more.
I am sure every generation has felt that younger generations have had it easier especially with the advances we have had in technology. 

When I was a kid I would've never imagined cell phones or that I would one day own one. I got my first when I was 40. The closest thing we had to compare were the  communicators you saw on Star Trek. 

But excess can be a motivator...if you desire something that is not a necessity, you know you will need to work hard to attain it. Or if you  determine that you need to lose excess weight,  quit smoking etc.- these types of excesses can motivate you to change.

It is when we get bogged down with excesses that we go wrong. We all know that if we overindulge there is always a price to be paid.

Case in point weddings. My oldest recently got married. The amount of excess available and  associated with a wedding is unbelievable. We had to make a conscious effort to keep a handle on the expenses. Even doing so, we went over budget. Was the wedding excessive? No I don't think so, but again my frame of reference might be different than yours. 

All that being said... I sure would love the chance to hit a mega millions jackpot and see if an excess of money is all bad.








 

3 comments:

  1. I think your bad excesses may be my good excesses! Whatever floats your boat.

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  2. The movie Seven was intense for sure.

    And I fully agree about never imagining some of these things. I remember as a kid riding my bike, playing ball and staying outside all the time. We left in the morning and came back at dinner time. If we were thirsty, we were always near creeks or water fountains. And my dad was a village cop, so if he saw me, he'd give me a buck or three to get something to eat.

    Now? Not so much. Total excess of so many things and it's a different world.

    Bravo on this post.

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  3. I think I need to hit the jackpot as well to see for myself if an excess of cash is a bad thing. How do we make this work in our favour?

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