At a talk I attended on Thursday night, the speaker made the following statement: ‘Moderation is the motto of the mediocre’
Now I have spent the most part of my life as a radical extremist who has only just emerged from my black and white world. So, with my new found freedom, my reply is :’Moderation is the freedom to choose’.
Thus far, I have been living a life of order and control. It was from a place of freedom that I chose to impose rigid sanctions upon myself and that my freedom came with a high price of discipline and self control.
We explored last week, the importance of embracing our two opposite sides, in order to be well balanced and rounded (literally like a sphere). Well then, wouldn’t living a life of extremes be completely off axis and wouldn’t we just be denying ourselves fifty percent of life’s lessons and radically reducing our experience?
Freedom is the ability to choose whatever we wish and to change our minds as many times as we like.
When we choose to walk the middle line, we can flip over to the sunny side or the dark side quite easily, however when we walk the far extreme left, we have to cover a vast amount of ground to swing to the right.
Compare the walk we choose to a see-saw. When we sit right on the apex (in the middle of the see-saw), all we need do to tip the see-saw to the right is lean a bit right and if we want to tip to the left we only have to shift our weight fractionally to cause a shift to the left. On the other hand, if we are to sit on the seat at the one end, we have to literally stand up and tight rope walk along the see-saw to past the apex in order for the see-saw to tip to the other side. It is a more radical shift.
When we walk the path of the extremist, the highs and lows are far more dramatic. We’re either ecstatically happy or heavily depressed. With the moderation scenario, our highs and lows are not so extreme and we feel more balanced and steady.
Now I am not saying which is right or wrong or which is better or worse, merely commenting on our choices available to us.
Do we choose to only eat one type of food, associate with only one kind of person, follow only one type of philosophy. Or do we choose to have as much freedom of choice as possible and the freedom to change our minds often. Do we choose to experience our dark sides and our light sides and to love them equally?
Perhaps when we are more balanced and sitting on the middle line, we are in a better position to help others. When we are busy running up and down the plank trying to balance the see-saw, we are less likely to smell the roses, let alone see them.
So just as we are spheres of light and dark, so too is the world a macrocosm of different shades coloured by the radicals and the conservatives and all the shades in between. We have the freedom to choose to be whatever and whoever we like.
Living moderately needs not be boring, safe or as a result of fear. Living moderately means having one’s eye on all possibilities, being able to see the benefits of all sides. Moderation says, ‘ I can try this and the opposite without fear or condemnation’
The deprivation that accompanies extremist choices causes a torrential build up of force, which, just like the river we spoke about 2 weeks ago, will inevitably burst its banks. If you swing a pendulum to the far right it will, without a shadow of a doubt, counter swing to the far left.
We need to experienced living both ways, find the elusive line, sit on it and then walk the plank to the extremes and experience the thrill of the chaos we have the ability to orchestrate or control.
Swing or cruise the straight line, but always remember that we are free to change our minds at any time we so choose. And know that when we sit on the see-saw seat it is no fun until we have someone to play with, who will sit on the opposite side and set the see-saw into motion. Sometimes the motion of flying up and down is exhilarating and other times the calm of sitting still and just balancing is what we choose.
Live the life you choose and be who you are!
There is no right or wrong
So until next week enjoy playing on your see-saw
Love
Nicolette
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