Guardrails
I have thought about this idea for awhile, but haven’t quite figured out exactly how to say what I want to say, so here goes!
Have you ever lived life by swerving from one guardrail to another? What I mean is that do you live life going from one extreme to another, not thinking about the white line, the rumble strips, and the broken glass and nails, before you hit the guardrail? I have found myself hitting the guardrails in life many a times!
I found a new idea to follow and I went ALL in. For instance, when I started my organizing blog, I went ALL in. I organized every single nook and cranny of our home and purged everything that seemed unnecessary and unworthy to take up space in our home. Did I become a minimalist? Oh goodness no, but I sure felt like I did! It’s kind of like the little food fads that I jump on so easily! Ways to eat healthier, ways to maximize calories, ways to just feed the family better, but every single time, I end up reverting back to some old ways.
Why is that? Does that happen to you?
What I find is that when I drive so hard one way, trying to follow the path one way, I end up hitting a guardrail that says, “whoa, too far there chica!” I try to fit into this little path, losing sight of reality and what’s realistic, popping tires, losing energy, and burning out, all along the way.
That is why the more I live, the more I see how I’ve lived my life, the more I see the need for moderation. I struggle with that word because when it comes to my faith, I don’t necessarily think that’s a “positive” word – I hope my faith isn’t lived in moderation. But when it comes to matters of this world, I feel like I am more loving, more patient, more accepting, when I accept my own life as moderation. Let me explain what I mean.
Our culture is all about “the next best thing.” If you do this, then you will FEEL this. You will LOOK like this. You don’t have to look far if you want to delve into something new. And dive into it head first.
The only hangup I have is if someone isn’t jumping on the same bandwagon, how do we view them? Do we judge them? Do we see them as “lower” than ourselves? As “less than?” I think of the second half of the greatest commandment – TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES.
When I jump headfirst into something, I often think “why isn’t EVERYONE doing this?” Well, that is a lowly and sinful way of thinking. I would not be able to find a Bible verse to justify my thinking. This is why I need to live my life in moderation. Live my life how I see fit. Live my life in a way that I feel is honorable to God. But to be careful how I do so, so that I don’t pop tires along the way, nearly missing the guardrail.
Make sense?
What do you find that our culture is screaming that EVERYONE must do? That EVERYONE must follow?
