Seeing Past the Smoke

by Michaela Ortega

Everything in moderation seems to be good advice for most things.

Eat in moderation, drink in moderation, work in moderation, sleep in moderation– dare it not be too much or too little. Dare you step out of the lines of life already drawn out for you. Moderation keeps people in a nice neat box. And because most people follow the rules, life and society exist in moderation.

Life continuously flows, day in and day out, sun up and sun down.

But nothing happens in moderation. Nothing. Inertia happens. It might keep life easy but nothing is changing or growing, it just rolls right along into the next day.

Any change that has ever happened has come from a relentless idea, a passion. Revolutions, uprisings, strikes, boycotts, breakthroughs, they have all immerged because a person or a group of people have felt so strongly about something that they refuse to let moderation happen. They refuse to stay inside the lines, to keep their head down and keep moving easily through life.

I’m a Libra, therefore I am the definition of moderation and balance. I once read a description of a Libra as “easygoing to the point of inertia.” I didn’t like that. So I choose not to listen to it. I choose every day to work toward my goals, to not give up, to push a little bit harder, to ask for help when I need it, to not let life pass by without really living it. It’s a work in progress, as it is for everyone. Some days are hard and I let life be easy. But I know, ultimately, that you cannot just let things happen.

You, alone, are responsible for whatever life you choose to create, whatever life you imagine.

I think too often people can’t see past the reasons why something won’twork. But what if you imagined and believed in all the reasons how and why something CAN work!

That’s a powerful thing… and it lives inside of everyone if they choose to look past moderation.