Overwhelmed By Abundance

Mae West - known for her wit and double entendre - said "too much of a good thing can be wonderful," but for the rest of us, "too much of a good thing" tends to be a confusing situation.

It’s Autumn and the ground beneath our apple tree sports an abundance of fallen apples. The deer, rabbits, and squirrels are feasting. I watch as a squirrel picks up an apple almost half as big as itself. It looks confused. Takes a small bite. Puts the apple down. Looks confused. Scurries to another apple, and repeats the process. "What to do? I can’t eat them all. I can’t bury them all. I may be hungry this winter. Right now, there are so many apples. What to do?"

In 21st Century America, we suffer from a profusion of fallen apples... an epidemic of abundance. We are so spoiled that we can’t even see what is right in front of our faces. Unlike the fallen apples in my backyard, the "fallen apples" we feast on in America are a year-round cornucopia.

"But I’m tired of ‘apples’ and I don’t like them fallen." Remember "manna from Heaven" in the Bible? Sounds a lot like "fallen apples." Are we sick and tired of our abundance of manna? Most 21st Century Americans truly are sick and tired of their abundance of manna. "Same thing - day after day. And I have to bend over to pick it up. And it touched that dirty ground. Sheee... germs. And everyone else is eating the same thing. How boring."

When we are surrounded by abundance, not only do we stop being grateful, we actually STOP SEEING our abundance. We are not aware of, let alone grateful for the air we breathe. "What air? I don’t see any air." As we don’t notice the air, we also don’t notice the abundant food, shelter, health, comfort that surrounds us. "But, But, what about..." Our glass isn’t half full, its 99.9% full. Open your eyes... Notice... Become Aware... CHOOSE... Gratitude or Complaint?