If we eat too much, we are liable to grow fat thus becoming vulnerable to so many diseases just waiting to do their dirty job on us. If we do not eat enough them we will suffer the consequences of malnutrition. Overeating and not eating enough are extremes. They do not help us to live life fully. Either way we pay the price of becoming extreme. The only sane and healthy way is to eat moderately, enough to sustain our bodies but not too much to cause problems.

There are some people who are fanatically religious. They become blind to other things beside what they think with reality and cause numerous problems to the rest of us. Their over-righteous attitude to life makes them see things only in two ways – right or wrong. They make for themselves a prison of their beliefs and the rest of us are damned for not agreeing with them.

Right on the opposite end are godless people without a strand of conscience in their hearts. They are more like animals who give way to all their lusts and desires. They say and do things that show no respect or concern for other people. All they want is the satisfaction of their desires, regardless the consequences.

Religious fanaticism or godlessness are extremes that will only bring grief to those involved with them. Both require the taking of one side to the complete avoidance of the opposite. The result is an imbalance that can only bring disaster.

A person who wishes to remain clear-headed will not indulge in any of these extremes. He does not wish to blind his eyes with religious fury nor inflame his heart with uncontrolled passion. He is a moderate person who lives his life gently letting his conscience be his guide. His life then proceeds along smoothly and calmly.

Everything in this world has its opposite. This is an unavoidable fact of life. We know something is hot only in relation to something cold. A person is tall only when compared to a poorer person. Freedom is only meaningful when we experience the shackles of restriction. We value our health because we know that we are capable of falling ill.

Society has a penchant for youthfulness. So in its extreme, everybody tries to remain young. Cosmetics sell in huge quantities. Boys and girls dress in all kinds of atrocities that they think make them young and desirable. Middle-aged men and women too indulge in the same game. But nature has its way. People grow older by the moment. Old codgers fight a losing battle with time. Finally when old age sets in sit mournfully alone in old folk’s homes or stately mansions with nobody around but a servant. The desirable extreme of trying to remain young will result in the unhappy extreme of getting old. If in the first place, we are moderate with our lives, not identifying with youth or old-age, then it will not matter at all whether we are young or old. We can life peacefully with ourselves. We let nature run its course painlessly, gently.

So it is with other areas of life. An overly rich person is afraid of losing his wealth. A person living in abject poverty is anxious about where his next meal will come from. He is a prisoner of fear. A moderate person who simply works for his living has no fear of losing his wealth and no worries about his next meal. Moderation carries him along without any problems.

Those who over-exercise will burn themselves out. Those who site sedately all day suffer from atrophy. A boy who studies all the time has no friends. Another who only makes friends fails in his examinations. Staying too long under the sun can result in heatstroke and sunburn. Not going out at all makes the skin pale and pallid. Riding too fast on a motorcycle can cause you to crash. Not moving at all also means you cannot sit balanced on the motorcycle too. Sharpening at all will render the knife useless. Being extreme is always the cause of pain.

Moderation, then is the key of life. It is the way to live our lives as it is meant to be lived.