Balance

For a long time, since the age of 16 to be precise I have considered that Balance was the key principle to living a good life.

It shows my education in Philosophy and gives insight into my untimely maturation.

I was a big follower of Aristotle and believed his Ethics to be spot on. For every virtue there is a vice on either side. To be brave one must not be a coward and equally not be foolhardy.

Try and think of some balanced people and in your head you probably conjure up some vague image of boredom personified.

I'm actually growing to believe that it is in our extremes that we are characterised.

Extremes impress us; make us envious or competitive. Think of a man flying between mountain peaks in a wingsuit. That makes us stop and think. Forget the balancing act that man does to juggle work/life/family. It's what lies outside of the balance that defines him.

His passion.

I came across a great illustration by Zac Gorman - I suggest you google it - it says "Quit your day job and do what makes you happy". Picture of mario plumbing a toilet and next to it a pic of him busting mushrooms with a great smile.

So, we get stuck in a career path and stifle the embers of dreams we once had; but how we envy those who make the leap of faith and start their own business/pursue a hobby/go freelance.

Each day I work I know I'm working towards my personal goals as well as my business ones but I see others whose fires are growing dim. You can tell by looking in their eyes that the dream is dying day by day.

One glorious day will rise when I can take that leap but it is not today.

It wouldn't hurt to lean more towards an extreme once in a while (not all the time like my uni days) in the end, isn't that makes us truly balanced. Only being balanced some of the time.

There's one for Xeno I believe...

~Fraser