Over-indulgence: The Thief of the Simple, Quiet Life We All Long For by Trudy Samsill
Have you ever opened your over-stocked refrigerator, shut the door, then say, “I don’t know what I want to eat. Nothing looks good”? Or you head to your closet to pick out something to wear and after thumbing through 25 dresses, 16 pairs of jeans, and 47 blouses, you declare, “I don’t have a thing to wear!”
Sadly, I’m raising my hand in admittance that this has been me, more times than I care to say. During my pondering on “why” this has become such an issue with myself and many others, I came to this conclusion: we are over-indulged!
Over-indulgence is best defined as having too much of something enjoyable, excessive gratification of one’s wishes. I saw this scenario played out before my eyes not long ago….
Sitting in a fast food restaurant, after it took me and my daughter 10 minutes to look over the dozens of menu options, (regular, medium or super-sized choices of food; grilled, fried, whole wheat buns, bun-less; chicken or beef; veggies or no veggies; waffle, natural-cut, or curly fries; spicy or regular ketchup…..AND. ON. AND. ON…..), we finally made our choices and sat to eat. Within my first 3 bites of food the mother and 2 children next to our table erupted into a heated conversation something like this:
Mom: “You said a cheeseburger so I ordered you a cheeseburger!”
3 year old: “I want chicken!”
Mom: “No. Eat what you have. That’s what you chose.”
3 year old: “I hate cheeseburgers! I want chicken!” (folds arms across chest and begins to wail.)
Older sibling: “Mom, just get him chicken so he’ll shut up. You know he won’t eat now.”
Mom: “Fine. But you have to eat every bite of your chicken if I get it!” (She tosses $5 in the direction of the older child and he goes and orders the younger sibling’s chicken. 3 year old immediately stops crying.)
I very often act like that 3 year old, only in a different manner. I can’t decide, can’t choose, can’t make a decision because there are just too many options! From clothes, to food, to entertainment, to varieties of churches and worship music, to couches and what color and texture we want them, to……oh, I could go on all day.
In today’s society we are surrounded and bombarded with any manner of pleasures and desires we can conceive of. If not found in local stores, it can definitely be found online. To our great detriment, if we want it, we can have it. If I had to write a slogan for today’s America, I would just borrow Burger King’s old adage: Have it your way!
Our passions and envies are doing us in. We binge-eat, binge-watch, binge-drink, binge-DO anything that brings us pleasure and fulfillment, though it is very, very brief, until one day we wonder why we aren’t even HUNGRY
for good, healthy foods….
for simple times and simple ways….
for God and His word.
Over time we stuff ourselves on the delicacies of life, until we are so full of this world we have no room for anything else. NOT EVEN THE GOOD THINGS WE ONCE CHERISHED. NOT EVEN GOD.Simply put, an over-indulged life leads to an unfulfilled life.
What has happened to us? Where have we gone wrong? I believe in our great pursuit of what we want, we’ve lost our self-control in the process. We’ve been so busy feeding the monster, we’ve lost sight of how big the monster has grown.
Read with me from The Message Bible what Peter said:
Since Jesus went through everything you’re going through and more, learn to think like him. Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want. (I Peter 4:1-2)
We have turned our backs on self-denial and have instead turned ourselves over to the tyranny of our desires. And then we walk away from a binge experience wondering why we aren’t satisfied!
Remember with me the simpler days….no cellphones, no computers, work stayed at work because you couldn’t bring it home with you, no fast food restaurants, no over-demanding after-school over-the-top children’s sports schedule, you sat at the dinner table as a family. Remember those times? Maybe you lived them or saw them in movies. We all long for the simplicity of life, the face-to-face talks, the unbusy-ness of days goneby, the satisfaction in the simple, the peace and tranquility and rest.
Today, we can change this!! Yes, even in our crazy, out-spoken, over-opinionated world, we can. I’m encouraging you to start here with me:
CREATE A QUIET ZONE in your home. Designate a room or at the very least a chair and table and lamp that is the QUIET ZONE anyone can use. Make an appointment to be there for 30 minutes a day. Encourage your children to do the same. In this zone, there is nothing electronic allowed (except light), nothing distracting, so you can choose ONE THING to do, be it rest, read a paper book, read your Bible, draw, plan, dream, scheme, crochet, sleep, eat a simple meal, enjoy coffee or tea in the moment and drink the whole cup because your phone or other device doesn’t draw you away. The purpose is to unplug, detox, unwind, settle, still yourself. Enjoy the moment and a simple, quiet life.
Start here, with this promise from Matthew chapter 11:
Come to Me….Get away with Me….And you will recover your life. You’ll learn how to live freely and lightly. (from Matthew 11, The Message)
Jesus offers the only true satisfaction for our weary souls found in His presence. You can find the joy and beauty of a simple, quiet life, free from over-indulgence and dissatisfaction. Start today, at Jesus’ feet, in the quiet, in the simple, and enjoy the moment.
Trudy Samsill is a recent transplant from the Lone Star State of Texas to the beautiful Pacific Northwest state of Washington. She is an inspirational fiction author and micro-blogger who loves crafting words to encourage her readers and to direct them to God and His great love. Wife to the love of her life for over 30 years, mom to 4 adult children, and “Bama” to the most adorable grandson in the world, Trudy loves time with her family and time in nature. You can meet up with her on Amazon at amazon.com/author/trudysamsill