“Too much of everything is poisonous”, they say. “Too much of anything is bad for you. Do things in moderation. Don’t over-indulge in anything. Because too much is bad”.
Too much conscientiousness and you become a perfectionist, unable to complete tasks because they’re not perfect. Too much openness to experience and you could be an out-of-control risk-taker. Too much agreeableness and you become too nice – allowing others to take advantage of you. Being too emotionally expressive and you could be emotionally out-of-control. Too much emotional control and you appear distant and aloof. Too much emotional sensitivity and you become prone to emotional contagion – feeling and expressing the strong emotions of others, often to your detriment.
Too much self-confidence and you are arrogant and narcissistic. You have unrealistic views of yourself, you have an over-inflated ego, and you have an unhealthy sense of entitlement. You refuse to tolerate criticism, you get defensive, offensive or withdrawn. Too much praise and you become addicted to praise, you develop fear of failure, and you can actually damage your self-esteem and personal effectiveness. Too much happiness and you can become gullible, selfish, less creative, less physically fit, or less successful.
You drink too much water in a short period of time and you die of water intoxication. You sleep too much every day, more than the recommended seven to eight hours a day, and you risk getting type 2 diabetes. You eat too much and you get conditions like bulimia, anorexia, malnutrition, diabetes, or heart trouble.
Too much noise and you lose the sense of hearing. Too much light and you become blind. Too much religion and you become a fanatic; you become close minded, you mistreat non-believers and you impolitely exert your view onto others. Too much entertainment can lead to failure and misery. Too much worry and you can be affected negatively mentally and physically.
We therefore need to create a tactful balance in everything. Traits, abilities, and other psychological variables need to be in balance. Agreeableness balanced with appropriate assertiveness. Conscientiousness balanced with the ability to complete tasks. Too emotionally expressive balanced with having some ability to regulate and control emotional displays. Too much emotional sensitivity balanced with common sense, confidence and resilience so that one does not over-react to life’s everyday events. Too much worry balanced with having faith that nothing will go wrong, dealing with perceived insecurities.
Too much self-confidence or self-esteem (narcissism) balanced with setting realistic expectations and healthy attitudes. Too much praise balanced with searching for, pointing out, and acting on, the negatives too.
Below are a few of quotes on over-indulgence in life’s activities:
“Temperance, or balance, is a virtue” – Aristotle
“Excess of liberty, whether it lies in state or individuals, seems only to pass into excess of slavery” – Plato.
“The mother of excess is not joy but joylessness” – Friedrich Nietzsche
“Exceed not thy actions, but limit not thy mind” – Gary Davis
“It’s not good to eat too much honey, and it’s not good to seek honors for yourself”- Proverbs 25:27
“Everything in moderation, including moderation” – Oscar Wilde
