Why I Don't Like All Things In Moderation

At Sea with Justin McRoberts

I used to think the phrase, everything in moderation sounded like wisdom. I mean, it was the piece of wisdom folks would dole out when we talked about work-life balance and we talked about alcohol. And we talked about video games, everything in moderation, everything in moderation seemed like the thing that one would say that the goal would be to find the correct balance between all of these things. And that meeting in the middle of all things is still his dominant value. I just got an email, actually, from a work friend with whom I'm putting together this project. And there are differing opinions about how to spend the time on this retreat. And one of the participants said, Well, we will meet in the middle where everyone is happy. It says the notion that somehow there's this middle space between all things, and if we can just find the middle space between all things. Everything in moderation, we'll all be happy. And I'm just kind of over it. I no longer think that everything in moderation sounds like wisdom. I think it sounds impossible. I think it sounds not quite impossible. I think it sounds unhealthy. Now, I note some of that because I get prickly and nervous around any rule that I want to apply to all of life. That here's this rule, and it works for everything. And the phrase, at least the way we apply it, everything in moderation tends to get applied to everything that this will work for everything. As I said, it's about alcohol, it's about, it's about relationships, it's about how we're going to spend time, on a retreat, we'll find the middle space. In the middle, everyone will be happy. I'll find a middle space between my work and my happiness, right? It's just too easy, the harder work of life. And I think the more fruitful work of life. And I think those two things tend to come together and have more to do with paying attention to my life as I'm living it. And in other words, there are things that I don't want to make any time for. It's not a matter of moderation. It's not a matter of how much the how much is none. I don't want that at all. But even that, as a life rule, doesn't really fly in the long run. What flies in the long run is actually the short run. In other words, I need to pay attention to my life as I'm living it, to have a pace of life, to have a community of people around me, to have life practices that allow me to take some steps. And the nowhere I am to look at my own energies, my own interests, my own desires, what's available to me inside of me. What are my heart's desires? What are my limitations? Am I tired, or am I not tired? Then, I look around at the opportunities and challenges around me and make decisions based on where I am and what's available to me internally and externally. Living life paying attention to the life I'm living is more challenging. It's a more regular, and I think, more fruitful practice than just saying everything in moderation. Now, you might be thinking what I'm thinking, which is that it sort of lends itself towards that Ecclesiastes chapter that gets quoted in song, that there is a time for everything. And a season for every activity under the heavens, a time to be born at a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill, a time to heal, a time to tear down, and a time to build a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance a time to scatter stones. And a time to gather them and on and on and on. There's a time in your life and in my life for going way overboard. For spending way too much time, too much in quotes. Applying yourself to a certain practice or spending 90 hours a week on that startup project. There's a time for that. There's also a time in life to pull your hands off the wheel, hit the brakes, and just pull over and do nothing for a season. It's not a matter of moderation. It's a matter of attention. What season Am I in? What's available to me right now if I'm 23 to 29 years old, and I've got ideas for him. It's time to go here if you've got energy, you got space, you got parents who are willing to catch you when you fall. It's time to just go nuts and try a whole bunch of stuff. If you're 48 years old, you have two kids in a mortgage. It's not time to just throw random experiments at the wall through a pane of the wall and see what works. Not all the time, not centrally. Our seasons change our lives. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. The question isn't all things in moderation. And how do I achieve that? The question is, am I paying attention to my life? Do I have a pace of life in which I know what season I'm in and how to live it? So, if you are in that place, and you are trying to achieve balance, and you think still that all things in moderation are really the goal, but that's starting to degrade your soul because it feels impossible. It's why I wrote the book Sacred Strides. And if you haven't checked it out, I would highly suggest the book. And it's why I do what I do as a coach. So I'm here to help. If you haven't checked out the book, you can go to amazon.com you can go to hearts and minds books.com and order it. I think that the book Sacred Strides might provide some perspective and maybe even some permission for you to pay attention to the season on your end and find some pacing differently in your life so that you can pay attention to the season you're in. This is why I offer myself as a coach because it is difficult to pay attention to our lives as we're living them. It can take some help, and sometimes it can take a professional I am. That's why I do what I do. I can help you potentially pay attention to your season and make some wiser decisions based on what's available to you internally and externally. So check out the books, tickets, and rides, and jump to Justin mcroberts.com. Click on that coaching button and see if I can't help you figure out the season of life you're in

Links For Justin:

Coaching with Justin
Order In Rest - New Book of Poems

Order Sacred Strides

JustinMcRoberts.com

Support this podcast

NEW Single - Let Go

NEW Music - Sliver of Hope

NEW Music - The Dood and The Bird

The Book - It Is What You Make it

Hearts and Minds Amazon Barnes and Noble