Tag: seeing things differently

Moderation: Why is it so hard?

Let’s make this week a Wisdom Week and start today on the right path by considering the value of moderation.

Quotes about Moderation (307 quotes)
What does this even mean?

Moderation is the avoidance of excess or is defined as doing something within reasonable limits. Now, moderation is not an area I am NOT strong in. When I decide to do something anything, I go all in. There is no halfway about me. However, this is something that has time and again been detrimental to my achieving any goal I have, as I get into trouble a lot by having the most unrealistic mindset and acting in the most extreme and unnecessary manner. And this is can be so exhausting. It is certainly no sane way to live! No matter what it is, if I am trying to be healthier for example, in the past I have gotten to the point where I end up eating next to nothing because it seems even a “superfood” or the healthiest thing on God’s green earth has a disadvantage. So, quinoa is good, then actually not, well dark chocolate is way better than milk chocolate but actually, it’s not! This goes on until I end up with a way of eating that is so extreme that I cannot keep it up and worst is damaging to my health and well-being. In order to have the perfect diet I somehow end up with a really unhealthy one and I know the inability to approach the enterprise with a concept of everything in moderation is the main culprit at play. I have yet to master the art of thinking and acting in moderation.

Balance and Moderation - Dr. Sears Wellness Institute
Is moderation a balancing act?

The question is also, is this possible for everyone to do? Can we all live a life based on a framework of moderation? To be extreme is to be farthest from the centre. If we are always going to the extreme, we are always moving away from the centre, we are always awry. If we are always awry, then we can never see the way ahead clear enough to read those signposts that can help us to the other side of where we want to be. Always having to remind ourselves that we have to be the best version of ourselves and be positive, smiling, smiling and being on our ‘A’ game can be quite annoying, tiring and lead to frustration or even resentment. Even being kind can become sickly sweet as the giver can burn out faster than a forest fire. Stretching yourself thin to do good has its disadvantages it would seem because we don’t know how to straddle that middle ground and find our centre.

A part of this need to be so extreme I believe, stems from how some view moderation. Some believe in order to be successful you have to give all or nothing. But is it really a good thing to have no middle ground (centre), to compromise on nothing all the time? Me having such a mentality has not worked out well. You see the more I tried to be an extreme me, the further away I got from myself because no one can last long being off-centre. It will manifest in some unpleasant ways that will set you back further than you thought you would ever be.

1 Timothy 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for your stomach's sake and your often infirmities.
Can something seemingly good for us be too much?

So at this point, I am all for moderation in my life. I no longer believe that I have to be the best, just that I have to do my best which sometimes is just showing up, not because I have anything to contribute but because that is all I have in me to give on that day, at that time. And that is okay. There is nothing wrong with being moderate, in fact, it is the happy medium I now seek. I know it is not elusive or a unicorn, I know I will have to rethink, relearn and reevaluate how I look at the world and how I look at me. But I believe it is the star I need to see my way ahead and avoid potholes that my extremist mindset cannot see.

Ecclesiastes 7:16-18 | The Name of the LORD is a Strong Tower

Office Saga

Office Saga

"hemahemhem"
the voices are lowered
as a new arrival comes into play.
Distrust is rampant and hurt feelings 
are a dime a dozen.
No one can be trusted
except those whom you trust
because they never know
who is for us.

These silly games continue
a jostle for position
or to prove you just don't care.
Whispering groups feel vindicated
they will be heard even if it's here.
Ambition is frowned upon
stars that have shone
must be dimmed
by the 'honest critics'
who hold nothing back
and give very little worth giving.

But once you're gone
your gone.
And what comes next
pray tell?

Making Silence Count

Making Silence Count

She walks
No-
She glides
No-
She floats,
keeping her own council,
looking neither 
left or right.
Her goals in her sight
never engaging in meaningless fights.

She creeps along
not afraid to sweep aside
those who would jeer,
snear
and envelop other in their despair.
She is impenetrable,
impregnable.
 
Her grey swirl of invincibilty
cacoons her from head to toe
They can sense her, 
but they don't know
When, where or how she goes.
For she can keep her  secret.
Her best friend Ms Descreet,
will be with her til the very end.

See Your Way Out

See Your way Out

When in doubt
see your way out.
Pull back the hand
from out the monster's mouth.
Take your time
don't be loud
and see your way out!

Though they try
to stop your goodbye
with pitiful sighs
hold firm and reply
"nice try
on this hill I will not die!"

So while you can
take that stand
Give one answer throughout
though I don't 
always know what I am about,
today,
"I must see my way out"

Ant Life

Ant Life

Who knows which way it goes,
a day or two 
 a few decades perhaps,
no one never knows.
Make sure though 
to stay close to home
or be a dead expereiment.
Nothing is gauranteed,
because your time is short
(no cretaceous life time),
We must do all now.
transitory being
that's all we will be
no crown
to lengthen the years.
All we can do
is carry the seeds
that contenment breeds.

A New Environment

I watched a YouTube video recently. It was about a Betta fish – had no idea there was such a thing by the way – that was about to die and was rescued! Yes, it was about this fish. Now, as for me and where I am from, you eat fish no questions asked. Therefore, to rescue a fish would be seen as a very strange thing indeed!

The video begins with the rescuer of said fish giving an account of her first meeting with this very lucky-still-to-be-alive fish, which was not very good, “he was very pale and very skinny, he was missing his entire tail, it had completely rotted off”. What immediately came to mind was that a fisherman encountering such a harrowing sight would just throw the poor fellow back into the water and deem it a waste of time.

However, one man’s trash is most certainly another man’s treasure. Sparing no expense, because she could, she transferred him to a hospital tank – again a new bit of information here that I never knew! So, she ‘transplanted’ it to a new home and over time with love, food and care the sickly fish recovered. The once sickly pale and emaciated fish was replaced by one of the most beautiful fish I had ever seen, wearing a beautiful and vibrant salsa dress- well that is how the fins looked to me! The point is, in this new environment with better treatment the betta fish flourished and surprised even the owner.

That takes me to my current thought. In the wrong environment we too may find our lights dimmed, our potential stifled and our very lives slowly seeping away into the cracks of despair. There comes a time when a change of environment can do a world of good. There are some who stay too long at a rest stop and forget that they are on a journey. Maybe, just maybe from time to time we have to access our current situation, transplant ourselves somewhere else if we want to flourish and reach our full potential.