As I write this, I’m currently on a train back to Madrid from the city of Seville in the famed Andalusia region of Spain.
Seville is a beautiful, highly walkable little city, and throughout the trip, I joked about how practically anywhere you wanted to go was “casi veinte minutos de pie,” which means everything is about 20 minutes away by foot.
As such, I did a lot of walking over the two days, averaging slightly more than 25,000 steps each day which is about 6,000 steps more than my previous average of 19,000 steps.
I also ate quite liberally. And even had several cocktails and glasses of wine, including a Manzanilla—a super dry white wine with a hint of bubbly like champagne—and another called the Rebujito, which seemed like a cousin of the Mojito.
With so much walking and eating, two observations emerged: 1) my 36-year-old body needed more rest than it would have in previous years, and 2) all that bad eating and drinking couldn’t have been the best for my health.
But I was on vacation in a new city, which meant I needed to walk to really explore. Plus, Ubering around gets expensive. I also needed to give myself permission to splurge a little to enjoy delicious foods and drinks from time to time because life is happening today, not tomorrow.
And therein lies the paradox—that too much of a good thing, even something as beneficial as rest, is almost always a bad thing if taken too far.
Walking Is Good, So How Can It Possibly Be Bad?
It’s hard to make an argument that walking is bad for us, so I won’t even try. Most of us could use more steps in our lives, and generally speaking, the more we walk, the better off we are.
That said, as evidenced by my trip to Seville, there does come a point where walking too much in a given period begins to have deleterious effects.
As a result of all the walking, my feet really hurt. They have an almost raw sensation that tells me they need rest. And logically speaking, there comes a point for all of us when our shoes will eventually fail, regardless of how good they are.
The immediate solution is obviously to rest, which then brings me to my next point—how even this vital need can ultimately harm us if we aren’t careful.
Rest Is Good, But Too Much of It Is Bad
From all the walking, I noticed that my body has quite a magnetic pull toward rest.
I’m young, strong, and fit. But Father Time seems to be winning the war against my body, as my arthritis is slowly taking over —making it increasingly harder to do simple things like comfortably walk for a few hours.
Because moving can be difficult, I often want to rest. It’s easier to not use my body than it is to use it, so I’d rather chill in a chair drinking Spain’s famed Tinto De Veranos than stroll around town.
The longer I walk, the harder it becomes. I’m not just battling the fatigue everyone else faces; I’m battling pain and inflammation that only grow stronger with each step.
As a result, rest is good to allow things to cool down and relax. After an hour or so of rest, I’m usually good to go for another few hours before the pain and stiffness take over again.
But here’s the paradox of why too much of a good thing—like rest—can be bad:
My rational brain knows walking and movement are good. The more I do, the better off I’ll be in the long run since it forces me to maintain function. Meanwhile, my subconscious brain constantly screams that it needs a break. Rest feels good and causes no pain, so I should do more of that. Yet in the long run, rest is exactly what will cause my body to rapidly stiffen and lose the mobility and function it has left.
It’s quite the paradox that too much of a good thing like rest can be bad, but it doesn’t just stop there. Perhaps even worse is that having fun, something we all love, can also be bad for us.
Too Much Of A Good Thing Like Having Fun
I call it the paradox of fun: Having too much of it distracts you from everything else and eventually cheapens the experience.
Dan Bilzerian comes to mind—a man once famed for endless partying with models aboard yachts who now seems depleted of all dopamine, as evidenced by his recent statement: “You can’t buy happiness. You can buy pleasure, though. I can’t buy happiness anymore. I’ve bought everything that I ever wanted. There’s not really anything I want anymore.”
Bilzerian is a cautionary tale about the dangers of too much of a good thing—like fun. There comes a point where excess brings harm.
But the flip side of Bilzerian is a person like how I used to be in years past. I was so anti-fun that I essentially banned the word from being spoken at home with my girlfriend at the time, thinking that having fun meant we were spending money we didn’t have or wasting time that could have been better spent chasing goals.
Looking back, it wasn’t worth the strife to just save a few dollars. Luckily for my future girlfriend or wife is that I’ve reformed my fun having ways and am not a big fan of some good old fashioned YOLO spending.
Oh, and speaking of saving a few dollars..
Too Much Saving & Too Much Spending
Then comes the issue of saving versus spending.
Save money, live better—there’s no doubt about it. Yet, saving too much can make us misers, despised by our partners and friends. Meanwhile, too much guilt-free spending will leave us broke with few options and a bleak retirement.
Both are good, but going too far with either can bring ruin.
One of the hardest things I find is striking the right balance. Rather than getting it completely perfect, it’s often like I’m riding a kayak, bobbing from side to side as I make my way forward.
I suppose that’s the most I can hope for. As long as I’m continuously making progress, maybe I don’t actually need to be perfect.
Giving Your Kids Too Much Love
And finally, there’s one I haven’t had to deal with yet, but I hope to in the future—raising children.
I know many parents who, despite coming up from nothing or facing difficult backgrounds, ultimately found success and positioned themselves to make their children’s lives better. Ironically, some of these children end up struggling because their parents made things too easy.
At times, challenge and struggle build resilience and character. Yet, a parent’s love for their child often makes it difficult to watch them struggle.
In the end, a parent’s love—something obviously good—can end up hurting their kids.
Solving The Too Much of a Good Thing Equation
I was unpacking this idea of “too much of a good thing” with my friend while on our trip to Seville and jokingly remarked how cruel God was for making literally everything that’s good for us also somehow bad on the flip side.
I further joked that the things that are good for us, like going to bed early or eating broccoli, are dreadfully boring, untasty, or difficult to do consistently.
Such a paradox indeed! And I admit, there’s no obvious or great solution.
I think the best advice I can give on the matter is this: do what you should do most of the time.
If something is good, then have at it. Enjoy it or do it to a point, but don’t overindulge to where it becomes bad.
Even something that is almost always good—like walking—should be done in balance. Walk a lot and push your limits, but don’t overdo it to the point of plantar fasciitis, pulling a muscle, or until the soles of your shoes fall off.
In the end, simply being aware of this paradox and mindful of it in our daily lives should be sufficient.
Final Thought
Balance is key. Life isn’t about extremes but about knowing when to push forward and when to pull back. By staying aware of this paradox and making mindful choices, we can get the best out of life—without letting the good things turn bad.