Moderation is the Way to Live Our Lives as they are Meant to be Lived

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An Unavoidable Fact of Life

Everything in this world has its opposite. This is an unavoidable fact of life. We know something is hot only in relation to something cold. A person is tall only when compared to a short person. We are rich only when compared to a poorer person. Freedom is only meaningful when we experience the shackles of restriction. We value our health because we know that we are capable of falling ill.

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Let Nature Run its Course Painlessly and Gently

Society has a penchant for youthfulness. So in its extreme, everybody tries to remain young. Cosmetics sell in huge quantities. Boys and girls dress in all kinds of atrocities that they think make them young and desirable. Middle – aged men and women too indulge in the same game. But nature has its way. People grow older by the moment. Old codgers fight a losing battle with time. Finally when old age sets in they sit mournfully alone in old folk’ s homes or stately mansions with nobody around but a servant. The desirable extreme of trying to remain young will result in the unhappy extreme of getting old. If in the first place, we are moderate with our lives, not identifying with youth or old – age, then it will not matter at all whether we are young or old. We can live peacefully with ourselves. We let nature run its course painless gently.

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Be a Moderate Person

So it is with other areas of life. An overly rich person is afraid of losing his wealth. His very riches keep him anxious. He is prisoner of wealth. A person living in abject poverty is anxious about where his next meal will come from. He is prisoner of fear. A moderate person who simply works for his living has no fear of losing his wealth and no worries about his next meal. Moderation carries him along without any problems.

Those who over-exercise will burn themselves out. Those who sit sedately all day suffer from atrophy. A boy who studies all the time has no friends. Another who only makes friends fails in his examinations. Staying too long under the sun can result heatstroke and sunburn. Not going out at all makes the skin pale and pallid. Riding too fast on motorcycle means you may loose balance. Not moving at all means you cannot sit balanced on the motorcycle too. Sharpening a knife too often will wear the blade away quickly. Not sharpening at all will render the knife useless. Being extreme is always the cause of pain.

Moderation, then, is the key to life. It is the way to live our lives as it meant to be lived.