How much is enough?

My wife and I struggle with this question everyday. We feel very blessed in our lives. I make okay money, and with some small sacrifices we can live on my income when our baby comes (did I mention she will have a baby in February?). I think the present day economy has made people slow down and evaluate their consumer driven lives. Do we need all this stuff?

Food, too, is an excellent example of how much is enough. As a couple, our bodies shall we say exhibit some excess baggage that we wish we didn't have. Pregnancy gives my wife ample reason to ignore this outward expression of our love for food. I, however, do not have an excuse. I could say it belies my sympathetic support for my wife's pregnancy, but that wouldn't be true. I really just like food. Portion control presents an issue for us both.

We have all sorts of cliches to describe our over abundance:

• enough is enough
• would you like fries with that?
• go whole hog
• give them an inch and they'll take a mile
• show me the money!
• rolling in dough

We always want more, more, more. Whatever happened to other cliches like less is more?

But, what about love? We all could use more love in our lives. Can love be excessive? I think love becomes something else in excess. Love becomes obsession when it exceeds normal limits, preserving the purity of the word love.

If I have a point, I guess it would be this: we all need to find a balance in our lives. I've always believed in moderation. William Blake had a good point though when he said, "the road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom...for we never know what is enough until we know what is more than enough." I don't think I totally agree with him because we can learn moderation through the excesses of others, but I would amend my original maxim of moderation with the idea that we cannot beat ourselves up over our excesses. After all, personal experience proves to be the best teacher all too often.

I think our society may be waking up from a hangover of our excesses. Looking back at history it seems to happen every once in a while just when our grandparents' generation dwindles in number. I hope in time we will have the wisdom now that we've experienced some of those excesses. A solution to the problem of excess would include love, intrinsically the right amount in its purist form regardless of the amount. May love of your family, friends, and your fellow humankind fill you until you burst this holiday season.