I spent several days in Las Vegas last week. It’s a city I really do not like, but I had been invited to speak at a conference and they were paying my way, so off I went.
Since I don’t gamble, don’t drink, don’t smoke, and I love my wife, Vegas holds little for me. I am not the kind of person that can handle the constant din of the machines, the lights, and the smells that emanate from the casino floor or waft outside into the streets. Even if I drank more than the occasional Jameson and cranberry juice, I cannot imagine that I would want it at 8 am. Still, these are not lenses through which I can see, so suffice it to say I was glad to get home.
As I flew home and reflected on the experience, I was reminded of the man who wants to tear down his barns to build bigger ones because the harvest had been so great. True, I do not like to gamble, but it doesn’t mean I don’t like money or sometimes dream about winning the lottery. I think all of us would rather protect the possibility of being rich than face the reality of being poor – even our own “poverty” is not real poverty at all.
Many of us in America have access to excess. We are inundated with information, we have more than we need in the ways of clothes, books, electronics, toys, and other “stuff” cluttering our house. We have more email than we can handle, more bills than we can manage, and more of everything but time to enjoy the things that really bring us joy.
The coming of fall always reminds me to take stock. As the leaves are blown away and bagged, I always try to take a mental inventory of all that surrounds me. It’s time to take stock of the closets too, the drawers, the toy box, and the garage. It is time to let go of excess and share it with those who have less.
So that is my charge this week: do more with less. Clean out and declutter. Give away and throw away (another feature of our excessive culture, but a story for another time).
What will you clean this week? What excesses with you give up?