Dare to... Practice Moderation

Virtue is a habit of the mind, consistent with nature and moderation and reason.  ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero


Being moderate is doing just enough for you... working enough and resting enough. I don't mean doing just enough by being mediocre or complacent, no, no... that would be going to the other extreme and that's not good.  Moderation simply means creating balance in your life. It means using self-discipline to keep from overdoing it, like stopping before you go overboard. But, moderation is even more than that. It's a specific kind of balance. It's being conscious and aware of what you're doing. And, recognizing that too much of any good thing is bad. Even a virtue, when pursued to excess, crowds out other virtues and causes harm.

When you practice moderation you have balance between insufficiency and excess. For example, while talking too much can be disruptive, not talking enough, you get ignored. And when there's a discussion, your special way of thinking about things will be missing from that discussion.  So, knowing the right balance is the key to moderation if you want to be kept from being blown about in the wind of your wishes and successes. Without moderation you can get swept away and damage yourself by things like drugs, alcohol, or crime, then becoming addicted, you want more and more and more.

Personal Development: How to Treat Compliments and Criticisms

“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain
in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” ~ Winston Churchill

Everyone has had it happen. You ask for feedback, you say you want feedback, but when you actually get some constructive feedback you become defensive. Taking constructive criticism well is a difficult but vital skill to learn.  But equally important is the ability to not let compliments consume you, either. Because, compliments and criticism are just reflections of each other.  In order to properly handle criticism, you also need to properly handle compliments. If someone excessively flatters you for a minor success, you need to internalize it the same way you would internalize a scathing insult.

The person that is easily flattered is also easily criticized. ~ Scott H. Young

The Inner Path: Balancing You Life!

As much as you would like to think that you have things all "under control" you're really getting bent more and more out of shape, and because you have so many dimensions to your life; your family, friends, career, health, finances, personal and spiritual growth, - maintaining balance among them all can be very difficult.  And, to make things worst, when one area is given a heap of attention.... the others suffer.  You want to make things better, but you don't know where to start or how to figure what's really out of balance. I want to help you figure it out....it's the "Life Wheel".  The Life Wheel is a tool to help you get a picture of where your life might be out of balance.  I used this wheel when I came across the Make My Christian Life Work site.  It's a Christian based blog and one of the things I like about it is the section on balancing your life. The life wheel gave me a visual to help determine where my life was out of balance and I know it will help you too.

How to use the "Life Wheel" below:

1. Notice each area listed on the wheel. Feel free to add or change areas or titles to better fit your life.
2. Rate each area listed on the wheel on a scale from 1-10; where 1=totally unhappy and 10=great.
3. How would you rate your life?
4. After you give each area a score, color it in for the title being rated, up to the assigned number.
5. See whether your "wheel" is round and able to roll.
6. Where your wheel is not round, gives you a picture of which areas of life you need to start to focus.

makemychristianlifework.com

Now, the goal is to bring all areas of your life to about the same level so it's in balance. You can use this life wheel anytime you think your life is out of balance or when there are event changes in your life, such as, the birth of a baby, going from single to married life, married to single or even  career  changes.  You will find that as you start to improve on the life wheel, even if the level is still not where you want it, you'll begin to feel more in control. Sure a "10" would be ideal in all areas, but don't aim for perfection, but improvement.
 

Well, now that you're on your way to balancing your life, take some time and consider what's really important to you. Consider what your values are,your beliefs and what truly guides you in life.  Then, place those as your core values, at the center of your life.  By doing this, every area of your life will be directed by what you believe is the most important for you.  And even when things seem a bit hectic at times, knowing your core values makes it easy to say "no" to what doesn't fit and "yes" to what does. Now go and get your life back in balance and enjoy life.  Good luck and I wish you well.