PLEONEXIA

Wild Word Friday!

I’ve been reading Bill Giovannetti’s recently released book SECRETS TO A HAPPY LIFE. (Don’t miss this book. It’s incredible. Find out about it here: http://www.secretstoahappylife.org/ )

On page 62, Bill uses the word PLEONEXIA. Bill tells us that we should pronounce it as play-oh-nex-EEE-ah, and he explains that PLEONEXIA is a Greek word from the New Testament that “has a depth of meaning no single [English] word can capture. One translation puts it, ‘A continual lust for more.'” Hmmm. So the ancient Greeks actually had a word for something that has plagued my life more than once.

When I was expecting our second child, I definitely suffered from PLEONEXIA. (I’m not talking about food cravings. I kind of went the other way on food.) You see, our first baby had contracted bacterial meningitis and died. When I knew for certain that I was expecting again, I went crazy accumulating baby clothes. By the time our son was born, I had more clothes than any baby could ever wear during a first year of life. I know I was compensating for my loss, so I won’t beat myself up too much about that, but with other times of PLEONEXIA I don’t get off the hook so easily. Like when we built our dream house, and I was buying stuff for it. Not big huge stuff, more like the you-will-have-to-dust-this-someday stuff. PLEONEXIA for sure.

When we got our new puppy, who is now a very old dog, that little schnauzer had more toys than he has ever wanted.

And on my Kindle. Oh dear. PLEONEXIA.

So thank you, Bill. I’m glad you introduced me to this great word . I needed to remind myself that accumulating more stuff never fills my heart.

How about you? Do you ever have to deal with PLEONEXIA?

Blessings,

Sue

(Schnauzer photo by Karolina, licensed through Creative Commons. Dishes photo by Hopefulromntic, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported)