27 August 2010

too much of a good thing

Paracelsus, a physician of the 16th century, sometimes called the father of toxicology, wrote:
"All things are poison and nothing is without poison, only the dose permits something not to be poisonous."
That is to say, substances considered toxic are harmless in small doses, and conversely an ordinarily harmless substance can be deadly if over-consumed. Even water can be deadly if over-consumed.--courtesy wikipedia.org
I have always believed that most things are ok if taken in moderation.  For example, my weakness is sweets (which is kind of ironic, since besides writing, my hobby is baking).  I'm on a self-imposed strict diet to lose some pounds. I removed sweets from my diet; I went cold turkey. Thinking my doctor would be happy, he informed me not to stay away from something I loved. He said that I can eat small amounts in moderation. He said that I'm actually doing my body more harm then good when I refuse a guilty pleasure. For some people, it might be alcohol, or cigarettes, or even weed.
So, I'm back to eating sweets, but only small amounts of it.
I can't think of any good thing that I can have too much of, except money.  Yeah, I 'm even surprised that I wrote that. I still do fantasize having won Powerball. I even have plans for what to do with my millions, but I wouldn't be able to trust that the people that came into my life after I won the money,  cared about me or the money. It's easy to determine if the people with whom I had a history cared about me, based on how they would presently be treating me or how they treated me in the past, but someone in the future?
When Aristotle Onassis died , he made his granddaughter Athina Onassis Roussel, his sole heir. Upon his death she was automatically worth an estimated US $600 million, or $800 million, or even as much as nearly $2 billion (no one is sure), and she was only 3 years old. I can't even imagine what her life must have been like as a child. Having been raised by nannies, butlers, and relatives, who could she trust to love her genuinely? I wouldn't turn down maybe $250 million though, but that is too much money or too much of a good thing.

The only thing that I can never have too much of, is love.

And clothes.
And short story ideas.
And free airline tickets.
And compliments.
And connections to publishing success.
And air.
And hugs.

How about you? What are your guilty pleasures? What can you not have too much of?




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Guilty pleasure: sweets :), HIM

Can have to much of: money, friends, food, time, HIM

Can never have enough of: time, laughs, moments, motivation, peace, HIM

Daij said...

nice response! I can't have too much of HER (who I'm still looking for)

Kandia said...

One of my guilty pleasures is milk-shakes. I hadn't had one in over a month trying to cut back, but I had to break down yesterday and I was in heaven. I agree with your doctor...I decided yesterday I'm not gonna completely cut out milkshakes but I will do them in moderation.

Things I don't think I could have too much of are money and love.

Daij said...

lol

I'd still like to have too much money, as well