Please sir, can I have More???

Actually, it would be sweet if folks asked that nicely, or if they really needed more like little Olly did. Sad truth is that you give them a little more and it is never enough. And....no polite requests, no grateful receipts. Just a higher bar and a greater demand and a perceived need that becomes a gripe and bitch and whine if not fullfilled.

Wow, so I have kids. I try really really hard to get them to understand the finer points here. One the one side, having 'stuff' is fun. Why not have some stuff if you can? But I also don't want them to invest in stuff that really isn't important.

I have been in fairly good shape, materially, since my kids have become aware, and so I know I provide more 'stuff' than is probably good for them. I try to tell stories of having nothing, but you know, they are stories. But they are good kids, I know they understand enough to try and they have the right idea in mind, so I have hope locally. Globally, I'm not sure.

I know that there is a huge part of me that strives for more and more along these same lines, based on pressures I try to understand, to quelch, but to no avail. I am not totally failing, and I do have some self-control, and a good attitude about the fleeting nature of the material, but still.....if and when I can, I grab that 'thing' I only use once, that gives me some momentary small degree of gratification (maybe just from the purchase itself), and I participate in the waste and want more of it all.

What's the point here? Maybe focus and nothing more. I am enough of a hedonist to believe in self-obliging, but I remain concerned with extremes. This is especially true when those extremes have detrimental effects on the world outside of oneself. So, focus a bit more. Pause as you reach for the checkout item. Don't slow down as you swing past the fast food place on the way home to a full fridge. If you have it all, try to curtail the urge to want it more.
And when you do indulge, be grateful, be polite, be respectful. Try not to take with a selfishness or righteousness. Love your indulgence for what it is and thank the world for the opportunity to have it.

Later-E