WPTM #21: Less is More

What Parenting Teaches Me #21: Less is More

On the way home from Gatlinburg, Anna ate some french fries. Actually, she stuffed so many in her mouth that she couldn't even chew, let alone swallow them. So she had to just spit the mushy mess out of her mouth. Unpleasant. And she was still hungry in the end.

I commented to Josh what a good picture this was of American culture. Or just any person and their selfish desires. We instinctively want to acquire more and more and more - so much so that we really can't even enjoy what it is we've got. More and more attention, more and more 'friends', more and more food, more and more money, more and more toys, more and more activities, more and more anything ... until we are just choking on whatever it was we thought we wanted. We aren't satisfied with what is in front of us before we are already moving on to the next thing, next number, next time.

So in the same way that I started handing Anna one fry at a time and then making sure she had chewed and swallowed it before I gave her another one, I was challenged to remember again the "Less is More" philosophy for myself. To savor one good thing at a time if I can help it, instead of cramming in too much in a day, week, or year. To enjoy one hard-earned purchase at a time rather than dwelling on the list of things we have yet to get. Let the chocolate melt in my mouth rather than eat five more pieces in the same time frame. Let the noise and cries of my babies roll over me rather than annoy me at the end of the day. Let my attention be more on the people actually in my life instead of the ones on my homepage or blog roll. That sort of stuff.

All things in moderation. Less is more.
Always a good reminder.