How Too Much Of Anything is Bad

Too Much of Anything is Bad

We all know the saying that “Too much of anything is bad.” Parents drum this into their children’s heads when they make excessive requests. It appears to be a very good excuse when you do not want to give in to a request.

However, is this just a generalisation? We all accept that too much of any negative thing or behaviour is bad. Nobody would want to be so poor as to be begging for food. Neither would anyone want to be so mean for people to perceive them as miserly or wicked. Similarly, we don’t want people to associate us with greed. For instance, eating too much food results in gluttony. This, in turn, leads to obesity and its resultant diseases.

Can You Have Too Much of a Good Thing?

But can you also have too much of a good thing? Is a lot of everything or anything necessarily bad? How does a lot of anything or too much of everything become bad?

Love

In a relationship, when you love the other person too much, it makes that person take you for granted. When you invest all your heart and all your soul in a relationship and things don’t go as planned, a massive heartbreak is inevitable. This may, in turn, lead to depression. You may subsequently end up in a psychiatric institution.

For some people, their love is so strong that it escalates into obsession. As such, if they cannot have you, then nobody else should have you. Excessive love or obsession has led to many crimes of passion. Some people totally lose control when they find out that their spouse or lover has cheated on them. As a result of a betrayal by their partner, some people end up killing that partner or the lover of that partner. Examples of people trying to harm others or killing others in the name of love are found in the movies, “Fatal Attraction” and “Unfaithful”.

Generosity

Also, being too kind or too generous to others may cause others to take advantage of you. Some may borrow money from you and never return it. This is because they know that you will find it very difficult to ask for the money back. Others will demand that you spend all your time and energy on them because they know that you have difficulty in saying “no.”

Respect

Furthermore, much as it is good to show respect to others, being too respectful or deferential to others may lead to subservience. When you are prepared to obey others unquestionly and you do whatever someone wants you to do, people treat you as a doormat.

Some people may even ask you to do outrageous things. What comes to mind is the scene in the movie, “Coming to America” where Prince Akeem of Zamunda (Eddie Murphy) asked his arranged bride-to-be, who had been trained from birth to please him, to bark like a dog. She immediately did so without question. Is that not the height of absurdity?

Trust

Another example of too much of a good thing being bad is that of trust. Much as it is good to trust others, trusting others too much can make us overly naive. This leads to betrayal. There are so may swindlers and tricksters out there who are ready to pull a fast one on us if we are too trusting.

Ambition

Yet another example where too much of a good thing is bad is that of ambition. Whereas it is good to be ambitious, there is such a thing as blind ambition. People who are too ambitious may be prepared to lie, cheat and kill in order to fulfil their ambition. They are hence ready and prepared to clear whatever obstacle stands in their way, which can be dangerous.

Can you think of other examples which show how too much of anything is bad? Kindly provide your comments by clicking on the chat icon beneath the heading.

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