Lately I have been pondering the idea of moderation. This wise observation started way back in ninth century Greece with Hesiod claiming 'in all things moderation" and this proclamation was reiterated many times throughout history by various authors, philosphers and politicians. It began in Greece, but works by the English writer, Geoffrey Chaucer ,and our own founding fathers in America have touted the benefits of living a moderate and temperate existance. While I agree there is a benefit to the wise and practical prudence of finding measure to all things, isn't there also a benefit to putting down the measuring stick and letting go? As a married woman in my 30's with two young children, a job and a mortgage I find the constant measuring and calibrating and recalculating eventually becomes overkill. Well if I can be really honest, ( and I really can because this is my blog), keeping up the constant buzz of ticking off boxes all day quickly becomes exhausting, tedious, soul sucking and mind-numbingly boring. These "necessary" things are not all that, some "necessities" that we can't imagine life without can become consuming if we allow them too. Since my incessant pondering of this began I have discovered that when I sit back and truly evaluate what I am doing and why, the bulk of it is not necessary at all. My kids do not need to be in every class available within a twenty mile radius of my home to be complete, my home will not be condemned if it does not daily look like a professionally decorated and unlived in model home, and none of us are going to suffer lifelong trauma if we are not wearing designer clothes with matching accessories and Ugg boots. There will always be someone smarter, wealthier, healthier, more attractive, sexier, happier, wittier.The list goes on and on. Even with this realization the bills will continue to arrive, the children will continue to fight with eachother, and the house will yet again not miraculously clean itself over night. Should we just give up and let ourselves wallow in the imperfection that is our lives? There is another option left, such as wrecklessly abandoning the notion of perfection. Perfection is an illusion. I do not need to measure up to the neighbors, our siblings , parents, cousins, friends or co-workers. I only need to be and do what I need to, to make my life what I truly want it to be. When I narrow my life down to those essential needs for happiness and a fulfilled existence it becomes so much easier and clearer to see what is truly a necessity and what is something else. My endless box checking and running all over becomes far less and is done with much more authentic enthusiasm. This idea of paring back life to it's essentials and living at a more basic level certainly fits the notion of moderation. Taking away the unnecessary clutter and freeing ourselves to find what truly fits our personal needs.This is what makes us enjoy what we choose to do rather than our actions being dictated to us by faulty notions of what we "need" to do to be wholy and fully happy. This is where the myth of moderation comes into the game. The concept of "all things in moderation" is missing the ball entirely. If everything and "all" things in our lives must be moderated then that is not truly moderation at all, but perfection-seeking all over again. The goal of moderating and narrowing down life to it's essentials is purely and simply to be able to strip away the excess clutter to uncover from beneath the stacks of "to-do" lists what really lights a fire in our souls. So moderation is only the first goal, the next is to grab that passion that reveals itself and go full force at warp speed against the flow of moderation. Indulge in that passion, whatever it may be and feel something so fully that you're downright giddy with the sensation of joy that it gives.
Throughout all these centuries we all have been holding onto this flawed notion of "moderation in all things" and simply accepting it without question. I am right now officially turning this idea on it's ancient butt. I am sweeping off the dust of that chapter and putting it back in the attic. After that I will sit down with my I-Pad and concisely and in a much more enjoyable way write my own chapter in a way that satisfies me.I then will sit back reflect on my life and be proud and fulfilled by my choices at the end of the day. When that is accomplished I then will play an thirty minutes to an hour of Angry Birds.
