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We do grocery shopping every 3 weeks. It is normal for me to grab as many items of the same kind because I hate running out of supply. I also love buying stationery e.g. pens, pencils, notebooks, paper and the like. I grew up turning biscuit tin cans or drinking glasses into containers for my pen collection. I have shoe boxes for my notebooks, papers, etc. This way I am Miguel's very own National Bookstore, ready to provide a fresh set of colors, pencils, eraser whenever he needs them.
Having more has always meant being reliable, comfortable and always ready but recently I'm being educated that keeping too much of something is not good.

This is the first lesson I've learned when I started to take my diet seriously and consulted a nutritionist-dietitian about what I eat. Writing down the things I eat daily makes me see how much calories I consume. The key to being fit and healthy is to eat in moderation and not excessively.
Then, there's my bag. I'm amazed at how boys can keep everything they need inside their pockets. Meanwhile, girls like me carries 1-2 kilos of things I need and might need inside my bag. When I got older, I learned how to choose sturdy bags and umbrellas made of light-weight materials but from time-to-time my bag would still make my shoulders sore. A quick check inside my bag reveals (from lightest to heaviest) 5 pieces of paper, keys, 2 ballpens, comb, Off lotion, wallet,  make-up kit, charging kit, foldable umbrella, coin purse, cellphone and hot compress.

Practicing 5S (a Japanese organization technique/tool) at the office, I became aware of the disadvantages of having excessive things: 1) shortage of space 2) hard to organize 3) hard to find or retrieve things.

I thought to myself, "Oh that's why my clothes need to share precious closet space with rolls of tissue paper." By the way, the hanging rod from my closet recently collapsed from all the unnecessary, heavy lifting. And no matter how many pens I have in my possession, there are still plenty of times I would be looking for one either because I didn't bring one with me or the inks on a bunch of my pens are already dry.

Merriam-Webster defines 'excessive' as going beyond what is usual, normal, or proper.Synonyms are baroque (overdone), devilish (very, extremely), exorbitant, extravagant, extreme, fancy, immoderate, inordinate, insane, intolerable, lavish, overdue, overextravagant, overmuch, overweening(showing a lot of confidence and pride), plethoric (over abundant), steep, stiff, towering, unconscionable (unreasonable excessive), undue, unmerciful, a bit much, over the top.

I personally don't like the definition, much less the synonyms. And so today with God's guidance, I start my journey into keeping things at a minimum. Thank you for reading and may God bless us all.

Warm regards,

Joyce