A comfortable balance—being centered—is a beautiful place to live, but there is much to experience and learn at the edges.
Balance does not mean rejecting the outer edges but bringing awareness and intent when navigating them. Otherwise, you are a pendulum, swinging from one extreme to the other.
Think about the times you have experienced this back and forth in an attempt to rebalance.
- One day you work attentively for 18 hours straight, and the next you hardly glance at your desk.
- It’s a cheat day so here comes 10k calories, and tomorrow you fast.
There is nothing inherently wrong with this kind of behavior. All experiences are equally valuable; they cannot be replaced. Values support each other. They coexist—to have any values, one must have all values.
This is what it means to be in balance.
The question is whether your venture into the extremes is intentional. Are you expanding your awareness of the landscape, or are you motivated and blinded by fear of the past, present, and future?
To seek the edges is not to discover where to go—you will never know that until you’re already there—it is to learn where not to go.
Effortless action happens when you live in balance and explore the edges—a constant centering and broadening of awareness.