Dealing with Abundance

People don't deal with abundance very well. It's why many lottery winners become broke after a few years, and why as American dinner servings have increased in size, so have Americans' waist lines.

It's why, when I found a pub two blocks from my apartment that offers free beer for women from noon to midnight (Yes, you read that correctly. FREE BEER for all ladies for TWELVE HOURS each day)- it resulted in more hangovers than I would like to admit. (I'm normally a once-a-year hangover type of person.)

Not to sound arrogant, but having more disposable income than most locals affords an abundance that I am not used to in the U.S. In addition to free beer, there seem to be social engagements every night that can keep me awake for a straight week, I can have whatever food I want delivered right to my door, at less cost than it would take for me to cook something back home. Or, I could just walk down the street to the schmorgusborg.

If Art Devany is right, humans haven't adapted genetically since we were hunter-gatherers 10,000 years ago, living with a series of boom and bust cycles. When offered all we want, we take all we can, because part of our wee brains is telling us that this won't happen again for a while.

What happens when you live boom to boom, and no bust?

When that part of your brain clicks on that says, "Oh my God! More XXXX (fill in the blank) than I ever imagined! When will this ever happen again?" You tell yourself, "Calm down. It can happen every night if you want. You don't have to say yes to everything."

Finally, things become clear. The mindset changes. My stomach is not a savings account. No more grasping for things like a kid in a candy store, or a person who rarely travels filling their suitcase with shampoo.

Powerful.