We as humans like extremes. Except that desire to stretch out can often come to our own detriment. We often start small and keep building and we build fast. We throw any and all moderation out of the window.
Watch any little child and they watch the same show over and over and over. Preteens will often play the same song on repeat for days at a time.
People become addicted to different substances. Many times these substances take over their lives. You see people who want to hold onto small items and eventually, they can't throw anything away.
When we as humans start to do anything we find ourselves often wanting to overdo it and when we practice moderation we become overwhelmed. We find ourselves consumed by our obsessions. We find our mental and physical health in dire straits all because we commit to something and that is all we do. Many people choose an extreme route of diet and will come up with any excuse possible to not waver from that dedication.
How do we keep our mental and physical health in check? When all you want to do is become better? The answer is in the old adage of too much of anything is not good.
Why is moderation good for the best health?
When it comes to our health that is actually all we have. Without Good physical health, you are going to struggle to reach your goals and aspirations. Without good mental health, you are going to struggle to have your physical health as good as it needs to be.
We as humans often struggle with finding balance in our lives and the lack of balance often causes us to struggle more. We believe that we have to go all out keeps us from finding the joy and fulfillment we strive for.
Moderation also is good for us because it allows us to ease ourselves into the challenges that we are about to face. Whether you are taking on a new business opportunity or you want to get yourself into shape after not doing anything for years You have to take it slow. When you don’t you burn out way too fast or in the workout area you can seriously injure yourself.
Too much of a good thing is also bad. As mentioned earlier you can overdo it. Too much vitamin A can destroy your liver. Too much sun can give you skin cancer but not enough sun can also cause depression. It can also cause your bones to develop osteoporosis. Yet society wants you out of the sun unless you are using sunscreen. Yet if you are always slathering on sunscreen you might be upping your chances to have some types of cancer. Drinking too much water can kill you. IF you want to live a long and propserous life you need to have moderation in what you are doing.
If you don’t exercise you can possibly gain weight and have other adverse effects on your health how ever they have also found that too much exercise can also increase your weight.
If you drink coffee Too much you have health problems. Yet if you don’t drink any coffee you are also putting yourself at risk. There is a balance in everything. Alcohol is good for you in moderation while excesses will destroy your liver and worse someone else’s life.
We want to be the best but when ramping up it allows us to find the happy medium instead of trashing our health before we even find the benefits of our hard work.
Examples of Society going to an extreme
Society loves to go to extremes. We have a world record set of men doing exceptional things. From the most hotdogs eaten in a 5-minute period to who walked the farthest. These feats are things to be amazed at because we humans are simply amazing. We can do so much yet many people do these to their detriment.
We have fad diets and fad health problems. All because society doesn’t want moderation. They push to the extreme. Which extreme? That depends on who has the loudest voice.
The Adkins Diet
What happens if you eat a lot of fat and little carbohydrates? You get the Atkins diet. Now there are some good things about this yet we also need to have some carbohydrates. For our body to run right. Now do we need as much as the National Institute of Health says we need? I personally don’t think that is right. I believe beef is far healthier than sugary cereals. Yet again who has a louder platform? The cereal producers dont want you to practice moderation.
Carnivore diet
Now if you go to the other extreme you have people who believe you should only eat meat. Now meat is extremely good for you but should you only eat meat? No you need the other vitamins and minerals that fruits and vegetables provide. Our body also needs the fiber that comes with plants. If you dont practice moderatin in this diet you can find yourself wil a colon full of half digested meat. That's just gross and unhealthy.
Veganism
You then have people who very loudly proclaim that people should only be eating plants. No animals should be consumed except that we as omnivores actually need the fats and animal-based proteins in our diet to be healthy.
Going to extremes in eating only vegan foods robs a body of the needed animal fats which causes our skin to just look horrible. We need those fats to help our skin stay supple and elastic.This is why moderation is the key.
Politics
Yeah just look at the extremes of both sides of the American aisles. Is one side better than the other? Well, it depends on who you talk to. One sideways the other is destroying the country and the other is saying the same thing.
The interesting point of this is that our founding fathers knew this would happen and is why they made the country like it is. So that it was slow to work. It was cumbersome because normally the moderation would actually win out.
Social Media
People who are drawn into the allure of social media often don’t realize that they are forgoing real connections with fake ones. And so they find that their lives are full of anxiety and depression because they are looking for something we fundamentally need and can't get from a screen.
We hunger for a meaningful connection with someone face-to-face. Yet because we are so used to social media’s perceived safety when we actually get to see and talk to a person face to face we struggle with what to say. We often find ourselves drawn back to our phones.
One of the big problems that is cropping up from all the social media is that people are now getting plastic surgery to look like the filters they use. This is getting so bad that plastic surgeons are actually trying to find ways to talk to their clients as a means to dissuade them from this dangerous trend.
Body image of the 80’s-2000’s
Back when I was a young kid you saw the beauty magazines and the models were slowly getting skinnier and skinnier. It actually cropped back to the 70s when there was a model/actress called Twiggy. Yet as the decades, the models got thinner and thinner till we heard the news report of women being told that they are too fat wearing a size 0.
Now we know what is wrong with not having enough body fat and caloric intake can do to a person's body. We were facing things like anorexia and bulimia. With young women struggling to meet the perceived demands of what they thought they were supposed to look like. From here the birth of the body positivity movement came about.
The Body Positivity Movement
This is the extreme in the opposite direction. So that instead of being too thin they are now being morbidly obese and trying to justify that it is healthy to be 300 lbs. Sadly many of these people are dying from being overweight.
We know that being overweight causes a huge strain on the heart and can lead to diabetes and other life-threatening health problems. Yet we shouldn’t be ashamed of our bodies but it doesn’t mean you trash your bodies too. The key to a healthy weight is moderation. Eating everything in moderation. Drinking in moderation Exercise in moderation. Sex in moderation. TV in moderation won't hurt you. You can achieve the fulfillment you are after if you practice moderation.
The amount of processed foods we eat
The amount of processed food is also a huge warning of us going overboard. This is why the civilized countries are so overweight. We eat 1000 calories in a meal that looks like it should house 250 calories. So we eat way more than we need because it is easier to go overboard. You lose weight when you eat in moderation.
The belief that we are always supposed to be happy
Another problem that people are facing today is that they believe they should be happy all the time. Yet they aren't happy half of the time. Which goes against the extremes that they are facing. These folks believe that there must be something wrong with them they aren't happy all the time like the Instagram models are. The social media people aren't struggling.
This lack of struggle and understanding that life is 50% pain and 50% pleasure causes people more pain because they are resisting the half of their life they could be experiencing. Yet if you practice some moderation in your life you will see that youa re happier and more fulfilled.
So we should be aiming for mediocrity?
No, having moderation doesn't mean you just expect mediocrity. That is the farthest from the truth. You are allowing yourself to go further and faster when you start off slow. You slow down to speed up. When you start out going 100mph you will be more likely to burn out than to find a place where you can stop and rest. Instead, if you build your endurance up you will be able to go further. Much like how you train for a marathon. You start by just walking.
People who haven't exercised in a long time and just start trying to run 1 mile often find themselves in the hospital. You have to get your body ready for that type of work. You aren't 18 years old anymore.
So Set a goal and make steps towards that goal each day. Do try to reach it in a day know that the pursuit you are after is a multi-year event and your goals will be reached, some sooner and others longer. it just takes you being dedicated not extreme.
