Having it all...

EXCESS IS EVERYWHERE AND IT’S SPILLING INTO ALL AREAS OF LIFE!

Screaming from all angles to buy more, exercise more, do more and be more – its no wonder that many of us are constantly feeling as if we’re under-achieving if we’re not out there taking advantage of every opportunity, outing or special promotion currently running ..” until December!”

Exceed, excel, excess.. all words telling us to be more, do more and achieve more. From the minute I wake up every morning, my programming is geared to improvement: I take a shower to improve my “night look” into a more friendly “day look”, do my best job to improve results at the end of the work week and then strive to improve on my resolution of doing more exercise at the end of the day.

Since caveman times, humans have been attuned to aspirations for improvement. Without it, we would never have discovered how to rub two sticks together to make a fire or, the modern equivalent: by creating a similarly named, but slightly more technologically advanced “memory stick” which allows us to not only save fiery words but pictures and sounds as well.

Improvement is one reason that drives us to excess.  Our drive to enhancing our self image makes it easy to  justify to ourselves why we spend more on clothing, fragrances, accessories and gadgets, but slightly more difficult when we have to explain our purchases to enquiring bank manager and partner. Why is it that we believe a branded pair of sunnies just makes us look so much better than a cheaper one? Somehow I feel way more glamorous wearing my Issey Miyake perfume than an aromatherapy blend from the Boots counter.

Guilt, competition, self fulfilment or boredom all lead us to look for the next fix. And sometimes we take it so far, that we don’t even see how we’re over doing things.

Taking stock of my own guilty (and sometimes painful) excesses, the past year has seen me trying to burn the midnight oil and aromatherapy scented candle all at the same time. Moving to a different country, starting a new job, embarking on a dream study course and then having some foot surgery thrown in too, has proven quite an excess in the stress department. Add to that the excess of essays, making new friends and discovering that the sun doesn’t exist in excess here -  its been quite a year!

Metaphysics laws teach that failure to deal with spiritual, emotional, mental or physical stress is likely to result in the manifestation of illness (Aristotle, 322 BC). According to him, symptoms would manifest in areas correlating to certain body parts with particular stresses, indicating parts of your life which need attention. My foot injury could be related to the fact that I physically need to slow down, and take stock.

Stopping me in my tracks it certainly has! I haven’t been able to indulge in all the normal excesses of daily living: the rush of commuting, the excess of aimless shopping, as I now have to carry everything in a backpack. I’ve had to be more mindful (and take stock) of what I’m eating, (knowing that I have to carry any excess with my two wobbly arms!) and spending time doing all those outstanding essays, hopefully resulting in some EXCESS(ively) good marks!

Excess is everywhere, and I’m trying to use this time of recuperation to focus on maximising the good and clearing out the unnecessary. First to go: all the 100’s of study note pages hanging around like autumn leaves.. beautiful to look at and an indication of hard work throughout the term, but a definite fire hazard. If I think about it, now would be the perfect opportunity for me to show my technological advancement, and store it all on a memory stick!

Heres to advancement, elimination of excess and progress to the next season! Season’s greetings everyone!