Unrestrained Moderation
"Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit." - W. Somerset Maugham
Life is short. That’s all there is to say. Get what you can from the present - thoughtfully, justly. Unrestrained moderation. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.26
An unrestrained hedonistic lifestyle is likely to make a short life even shorter. A lifestyle based on complete abstinence and avoidance of unfamiliar or and uncertain experiences may be longer in years, but short on quality. Each of these paths, in many respects, represent extremes. I don't see how either path can end in a full and satisfying life. Either one strikes me as sailing close to the wind and as such I can see how dedicating one's life to either one can end in a lengthy train wreck of unintended regrets.
Moving through life we are challenged with finding the edges of what we're capable of and what we enjoy. Staying balanced on the journey insures a rich experience without self-destruction or stagnation. "Unrestrained moderation" is a way to test our limits, the Stoic version of "lean in." Unrestrained is "try anything once." Moderation is to try the thing in a way that is relative to some or all of our other known limits.
Maybe you want to run a marathon. Maybe you're 50 pounds overweight. Squeezing yourself into sweats and a pair of running shoes to give the full 26 miles a go would be unrestrained, but poor moderation. Try jogging out to the mailbox and back and work up from there.
The image I have is that we're all born in a tiny bubble. We can see what's inside the bubble, but not what's outside. We can feel the edge and when we place our hands on the edge, we can feel the vibrations from what's just beyond the edge. The edge defines what we know, value, and believe about ourselves and the world from the rest of the vast universe of potential human experience. The edge is charged with all the intense emotions - anxiety, frustration, excitement, pleasure, fear, wonder, awe, anger, doubt. In order to increase what we know, expand our sense of self, and shape our beliefs to be more holistic we have to push on the edge. We have to place our hands on the edge, exert ourselves to grow, and experience the intense emotions. Doing this makes the map just a little more like the territory.
Relentlessly pushing on the edge with unrestrained moderation is the Stoic way of strengthening our agency in the world, maturing as a human being, and acquiring wisdom. The bigger our bubble, the more we understand the world around us and our fellow human beings. It's the way to compassion, healthy empathy, grace, and gratitude.
Time is slipping away, moment by moment. So do something hard today. Place your hands on the edge of your bubble, and lean in.
Speaking of doing hard things. I've finished hand digging 80 feet of trench (2' deep, 18" wide) - threading it under fences and irrigation lines, past landscape rocks, and over power to the house to eventually set a 12" culvert in place. That was hard work.
My times weren't that great so I might not make Team USA for trench digging when it debuts as a demonstration sport in the next Olympiad. I'm on the road for the next five days. Rolling through a whole lot of flatness on the way to Sioux Falls after a week delay.
If you have any questions, need anything clarified, or have something else on your mind, please use the comments section or email me directly.
Photo by Sharon Pittaway on Unsplash