Somewhere in the middle
Mar. 31st, 2008 08:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apparentparadoxIt struck me the other day how much of life is really trying to understand the "extremes" of many different things, and trying to decide where "in the middle" you want to be.
Here's an example: when we were looking for a new house last year, we looked at lots of different houses, and finally picked one that we're very happy with. Because of the house that we picked, I know that our lives are different than they would have been if we had picked one of the other houses -- not necessarily better or worse, but different. Well, I think that it's great that we're flexible enough to adapt to our surroundings, that we change with the different requirements or opportunities provided.
However, I don't want to be so "spineless" that I'm completely different based on the environment.
So, I've got to choose where I want to be on the scale of "affected by the environment vs. holds to things regardless of environment".
As I got to thinking about that, it seemed like there were literally millions of things to think about, and with each, I've got to decide where I want to be on that scale.
And it seems that (for me, at least), it isn't until I can understand the extremes that I can really choose where I want to be.
The hard ones for me are always the ones that come from my upbringing -- where what I thought was an extreme really isn't -- that the scale goes on past my previous idea of the end.
Here's an example: when we were looking for a new house last year, we looked at lots of different houses, and finally picked one that we're very happy with. Because of the house that we picked, I know that our lives are different than they would have been if we had picked one of the other houses -- not necessarily better or worse, but different. Well, I think that it's great that we're flexible enough to adapt to our surroundings, that we change with the different requirements or opportunities provided.
However, I don't want to be so "spineless" that I'm completely different based on the environment.
So, I've got to choose where I want to be on the scale of "affected by the environment vs. holds to things regardless of environment".
As I got to thinking about that, it seemed like there were literally millions of things to think about, and with each, I've got to decide where I want to be on that scale.
And it seems that (for me, at least), it isn't until I can understand the extremes that I can really choose where I want to be.
The hard ones for me are always the ones that come from my upbringing -- where what I thought was an extreme really isn't -- that the scale goes on past my previous idea of the end.