Too Much

I spent the first 8 years and 8 months of my life as an only child, until my brother was born on December 8, 1982.  Being so much older gave me some advantages.  We didn't grow up together.  I was far enough ahead that I had a different perspective.  I watched him grow, from a baby to an adult, and pieces of his childhood stick with me today. 


There was a time when Dante was probably 2 or 3, and he would ask for things - juice, candy, whatever he wanted at the moment.  My mom would encourage moderation, saying, "Not too much."  Dante would cry, and say, "I WANT TOO MUCH!!  I NEED TOO MUCH!"  I often smile or laugh, remembering these tantrums.  A huge piece of me still relates to this feeling, and while he didn't understand what he was saying at the time, I'm sure he feels it now.  


The Dave Matthews Band effectively sums things up with the lyrics:  "I eat too much.  I drink too much.  I want too much.  Too much."  Indeed.  This theme has become central to the heart of America.  So many shows about losing weight, addictions, rehab.  A whole society of people, struggling to fill their voids.  And a whole culture of lost Americans, sitting home watching, cheering them on.  


Googling Obesity and Alcoholism, I came across the following:


America has the highest obesity rates in the world.
64% of adults in the United States of America are overweight or obese. 

• Obesity is the #2 cause of preventable death in the United States
• 60 million Americans, 20 years and older are obese
• 9 million children and teens ages 6-19 are overweight
• Being overweight or obese increases the risk of health conditions and diseases including: Breast cancer, Coronary heart disease, Type II diabetes, Sleep apnea, Gallbladder disease, Osteoarthritis, Colon cancer, Hypertension and Stroke

Alcohol is the number one drug problem in America.
There are more than 12 million alcoholics in the U.S.

• Three-fourths of all adults drink alcohol, and 6% of them are alcoholics.
• Americans spend $197 million each day on alcohol.
• In the United States, a person is killed in an alcohol-related car accident every 30 minutes.
• A 2000 study found nearly 7 million persons age 12 to 20 were binge drinkers.
• Three-fourths of all high school seniors report being drunk at least once.
• Adolescents who begin drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholics than their counterparts who do not begin drinking until the age of 21.
• People with a higher education are more likely to drink.
• Higher income people are more likely to drink.

The stats, the songs, the shows, seem to validate the voids so many of us struggle to fill - telling us we're not alone.  There are millions of Americans out there, struggling with wanting too much, needing too much.  There are many more who appreciate the nature of the battle - people who sing along, witness the struggles, laugh, cry and applaud the successes.  


So, while it's obvious that America has an obsession with "Too Much," I can only ask the masses:  What are we so hungry for?  In a society, where we're blessed with the freedom to live, the freedom to choose, why do so many of us choose to feed our hunger in detrimental ways?  Understanding that circumstance plays a role, and not everyone actively chooses his/her own fate, focus on those of us who do.  Look at the educated, financially stable, socialized people, still yearning to breathe free.  WHAT are we hungry for?


I think we all have voids - some bigger and more painful than others - but we all fill them in different ways.  What makes us choose one way over another is intriguing.  What makes us choose the negative over the positive is so complex, that maybe I'll never fully understand.  But it's obvious that choosing that negative can only lead to a form of paralysis so disabling that people forget how to live.  And if wanting and needing too much, can lead to silencing and stifling a person, what have we become?  How do we find ourselves, when in searching we do everything we can to suppress and negate our needs?  How do we live, when we feed on the things that can't satisfy, when we thirst for the things that make us numb?


I don't have the answers, but I see the pattern.  Too much is fueling us.  Too much is killing us.  Too much is out there asking what we're hungry for.  What ARE we hungry for?


- L.