As you from crimes

Would pardon’d be

Let your indulgence

Set me free.— Shakespeare

Assume a virtue

If you have it not

That monster, custom

Who all sense doth eat

Of habits, devil, is angel yet

in this.

— Shakespeare

Here we have a battle of the ages, a conflict that has raged for millennia, that of perhaps not quite good over evil, but certainly a struggle that we all have to endure. Overindulgence is what you love to do, as opposed to being virtuous, and both have their pros and cons. It was George Bernard Shaw who said, “Overindulgence is its own reward, and virtue its own punishment.”

So basically, might as well you overindulge in whatever your favourite vices are and enjoy the rewards that go with them. Shaw is not alone in his thinking, as others have echoed those same sentiments. To wit: Too much of a good thing can be wonderful; Anything worth doing is worth overdoing; The proximity of a desirable thing tempts one to overindulge; The bigger the better, in everything.

Clearly, overindulgence can’t be such a bad thing, or so many people would not be extolling its virtues. Ironic how overindulgence can also be perceived as a virtue. What is overindulgence though, and what is virtue? We’ll see the pros and cons right after these responses to what I had to say about ‘Christmas crosses’.

Hi Tony,

I get very nostalgic around Christmastime. The air gets crisper, carols are being played on the radio, decorations are displayed and the Christmas tree is colourful. Shoppers wander the plaza looking for gifts for family and friends. As a little boy I couldn’t wait for Christmas morning to arrive to open my presents. It was the time for lighting thunderbolts and fireworks. I really miss those good old days, especially when Christmas was a religious event, not so much anymore.

Chris

Tony,

Christmas crosses is a reality that we have to endure every year as we hide behind the merriment and the drinking to drown our sorrows. It’s a time when money is spent wantonly, not on frippery, but on the bills that loom large during this festive time. Some people benefit and the children love it, but the post-mortem come January is a bitter bill to swallow. Yes, bill.

Bruk PT

Overindulgence is defined as the action or fact of having too much of something enjoyable. “She overindulged in excessive shopping.” Sometimes people will say that too much of a good thing is good for nothing, but based on all those sayings about the benefits of overindulgence, it’s apparent that more people see nothing wrong with overindulging in things that they love.

“Why do you do it so much?”

“Because it feels so good.”

It’s a scientific fact that when we do things that we enjoy and feel good, certain chemicals — endomorphins — are released in our bodies that fuel our pleasure receptors. So the more that we indulge, is the better we feel.

The reward for overindulgence is pleasure, so why not go for it? And if virtue is its own punishment, why be virtuous? There’s always a condition, always a caveat, always a fine print to keep us in check.

Let’s take the act of overindulging in work. True, there are many people who hate work and shun it like the plague, but there are some who love it so much that they overindulge. Workaholics they call them. Now, they do say that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, but in reality, if Jack loves to work and has been doing it for a long time from he was young, more than likely he’ll reap his rewards.

I know of self-made millionaires who loved work so much that they dropped out of school from a very young age to pursue working in the fields that they enjoyed. After years of slogging, they amassed fortunes in their areas of endeavour, mostly the construction industry, and owned several properties. They reaped the rewards of overindulging. One man I knew, never went to a movie in his life, never attended a party, never danced, but just worked, worked, worked.

They say that you should be true to yourself, and in fact, the saying goes, ‘Above all things, to thine own self be true.’ Truly an endorsement to satisfy your passion. Most of the great people in the world were overindulgent in their fields of expertise. Great musicians spend countless hours practising on their instruments, overindulging their passion and eventually reap the rewards.

If you check out the stories of many great athletes, scientists, entertainers, you’ll hear of how they overindulged from they were children, much to the chagrin of others around them.

“You gone to practice again…give it a break man.”

A man who drinks rum will attest to the act of overindulgence, and it was a famous imbiber who said, “If a man have a job, and the job interfere with the rum, leff de job and drink the rum.” Actually, it was no famous imbiber who said that, it was actually a line from a TV play that I wrote many years ago, titled Just One More, starring Oliver Samuels and the late Volier Johnson who brilliantly played an alcoholic.

In reality, though, that sort of overindulgence is foolish and irresponsible, but I’m not holding a moral compass here, just merely pointing out that overindulgence brings pleasure, and the rum-head gets great reward from overindulging in his favourite likka.

There really is no point in doing things half-heartedly. If you really enjoy something, do it to the max, go all the way, overindulge and enjoy the rewards. Which brings me to the greatest overindulgence of all, and the attendant rewards — sex. Yes, you know that I’d be getting around to that, so all you pseudo prudes, those filled with fake righteous indignation, those pompous pious purveyors of Puritanism, stand down and don’t act as if you don’t reap the rewards of that overindulgence.

If sex is to be enjoyed, it has to be overindulged. There’s no point in going in half-hearted, with no gusto, no enthusiasm, no pizzaz. If a thing is worth doing, it’s worth overdoing. Just speak to any woman whose man has premature ‘whatchamacallit’ or erectile ‘thingamajig’ and you’ll see what I’m talking about. The scientists, doctors, and sex therapists have spent countless years and money dealing with these issues.

Sadly, many people do not get the chance to overindulge in this pastime and spend most of their time seeking it, hunting it, begging it, pleading for it and even paying for it without actually getting it. If they could overindulge they would, and be duly rewarded, as long as it doesn’t impact negatively on someone else.

For some people it’s eating, so if you want to overindulge in food, then knock yourself out, but make sure that you have counteractive measures regarding your health. The rewards may be pleasure, but the health risks are ever present. In fact, the ancient Romans overindulged on eating so much, that they actually had vomitoriums, so they would gorge on exotic food solely for the pleasure that it brought, then throw up, only to nyam some more and continue the overindulgence.

Now we come to virtue being its own punishment. Let’s take the life of the pious priest who has taken the virtuous vow of celibacy. Isn’t that a great and grievous punishment bestowed on those sects? Ironically, the last word in that last sentence is what they are deprived of, albeit spelt differently.

Of course, virtue in itself is admirable, but it’s also punishment. Virtue means having high moral standards, and some people really wear it so proudly, as a badge of honour, that they are deemed paragons of virtue. It’s a heavy burden to bear, a yoke that weighs down on their necks, an anchor that roots them to one moral spot, a chain that binds their legs, an extremely severe punishment.

If you really check it out, most people of virtue have a certain look about them — sullen and crestfallen — while those who overindulge somehow appear to be happier, have a carefree attitude towards life. One is punished, the other is rewarded.

Many people with so-called virtue are so punished that they have no fun, and live a life of always wondering what’s on the other side of the fence, what’s behind that closed door where the laughter is coming from, as they yearn to break the shackles of their self-imposed punishment. Look how many parsons, priests, men of the clergy, all supposed to be virtuous, are overindulging in what brings them prurient pleasure.

No wonder Shakespeare wrote, “Revel the night, rob, murder, and commit the oldest sins, the newest kinds of ways.”

I am by no means condoning such actions, but merely pointing out that overindulgence is a natural part of the human psyche as it results in rewards. Virtue, on the other hand, is its own punishment.

More time.

seido1yard@gmail.com

Footnote: If music be the food of love, play on and music doth soothe the savage beast. I haven’t been back to my piano classes at Avant Academy of Music since the pandemic hit us, but I still practice on my keyboard at home. Here’s what’s weird though, the more that I read music, is the less that I’m able to play by ear. When I sit down before the keyboard I’m at a loss unless I open the music book, yet, years ago I used to be able to play easily by ear. Maybe someone can explain why to me. The brain is really complex, but I still enjoy my music, which mercifully no one hears, courtesy of my headphones. I’m soothed.