240223 What I learned in my studies this morning 4

Today's Meditation(s):

So says Seneca in his Moral Letters (XX,(§§ 3, 5). He uses examples of disparate choices people make in how they live: this person has a hovel of a house, but eats expensive foods; this one acts seemly at home, but struts around with arrogance in public; etc.

If my principles are solid, and generally applicable to life, then I need not use one rule for houses, another for cars, a third for food, etc.  That said, how hard is that?

I have a nice house . . . but it's less then it could have been had I accepted the bigger mortgage.

I have a dependable car . . . but it's not flashy. To me, cars have always been a means to an end, not a store of personal worth. If it gets me there and back safely and reliably, I pretty much don't care what it looks like.

My big indulgence is food. I like good food. My wife can tell you: I'm never satisfied with the restaurants I already know (unless it's a proven, top-notch place). Rather, I'm always looking for a new place to try just in case it's the place to go, worthy of inclusion in my personal Pantheon of Great Food.  

And I eat too much food, even if the quality is poor.

So that's my vice.

How do I change it? How do I convince myself that, if I can be modest in my desires for a house and cars and clothes, etc., I can also be modest in my desire for, and consumption of, good food?

At what point will I get tired of my own bullshit and make the change?