Balance Beams

(For my good friend, Anna P. :)

Life is full of extremes. Sometimes, extremes are a good thing (like if you're extremely talented or extremely happy), other times it's not-so-good.

But even more often, most things in life are a balancing act, like a gymnast on a balance beam. You don't want to fall on one side or the other. The trick is to keep balance and stay in the middle. If you fall on either side, you could get hurt, hurt others, or just plain bruise your pride and embarrass yourself.

Examples? Here you go.

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Being too opionionated:

"Hey, do you like this new dress I bought?"

"I don't know, maybe if you washed out the stain from when the 70's threw up on it."

VS.

Having no opinion:

"I absolutely loved the Hannah Montana movie! It was probably the best movie I've ever seen! What do you think?

".........I..... Agree! It was amazing. It had me in tears!"

I know people who belong to both parties, here. Some people are total advocates of letting every thought that pops into their head be spewed out for the world to hear. They want to be painfully, brutally honest.

But honestly, unless you want people to be afraid to ask for your opinion, there has to be some thought put into how you voice those opinions. There should be a little imaginary filter in your brain that strains out the rude/tactless thoughts that pop into your head before they become audible. USE IT.

...And then there are people whose filter has been thrown into overdrive, and in order to avoid any sort of conflict whatsoever, just wind up agreeing with everything everyone says. I fall into this neighborhood moreso than the other one. :P I used to be the queen of agreeing with other people! I've gotten a little better with voicing my own opinions now. :)

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Being apathetic:

"Your grandma died? Dude, that sucks. I'm so glad my grandma's still alive. Hey... wanna go to the movies?"

VS.

Being too sympathetic:

"Your goldfish died? Oh, tragedy! Oh, loss! Oh, grief-stricken and woeful am I to hear such a travesty! That we are left barren and empty as the the angels receive the irreplaceable jewel once known as Johnny the Goldfish! 'Tis a sorrow too heavy for my weak heart to endure."

Ok... the two examples are a little exaggerated (can you tell I had fun with them?)

I don't know anyone who's that heartless or that... ridiculous. But you get the picture. I think sometimes people really are sympathetic, but they just don't know how to show it. So they either sort of pretend like nothing happened, or go a little overboard. I'm still trying to find a balance here, because this one almost depends on the person who's upset. Sometimes people find it comforting to talk about what they're having trouble with, other times they don't.

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Being *too* friendly:

"Hiiiii! Hey, what's your name? Awesome! That's great. Do you have a Facebook? Do you Tweet? What's your Twitter? Do you live around here? Good, so do I. Can I come over? We can be BESTIES! Whats your favorite color? What's your favorite shoe size? What's your social security number?"

VS.

Being unfriendly:

*annoyed stare* "........................................................................."

Sometimes in life, we find ourselves in awkward conversations with people we really don't want to talk to. The best we can do is smile and listen to what they have to say, and try to contribute to the conversation so it isn't one-sided. We have to try not to sound creepy and overly-talkative, while still trying to add to the conversation. It's a science.

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Working too hard:

"Sorry I can't go to your wedding, son, but those cars aren't gonna sell themselves!"

VS.

Playing too hard:

"Dude... I just totally blew off work today because Scooter totally filled his Slip N Slide with chocolate pudding. It was... AWESOME."

Hehe, ok, that would make it temping to skip work... :P

But anyway... yeah. You want to put your best into your responsibilities without making them the #1 priority in life, and you want to have fun without drifting through life with no drive or foresight. It's an art that we all need to learn to some extent. :)

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Eating a ton of junk food:

"Yeah, I'll have 2 Big Macs, 3 ice cream cones, an extra large order of fries, twenty nuggets, three cookies, and a milk shake."

"Will that be all?"

"No, just a sec...

Ok guys, what're you ordering?"

VS.

Never eating junk food at all:

"Hey, do you want some chocolate cake for dessert?"

"Nah, I'm good... I had a blueberry."

Ok, if you have dietary restrictions and can't help it, you're off the hook.

But then there are those sad, sad people who never treat themselves to any junk food at all. It's so tragic! I mean, don't go all gung-ho on junk food and give yourself a heart attack, but every once and a while a twinkie isn't going to kill you. ;)

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Also, like learning tricks on a balance beam, there are some things you're able to master and maintain your balance on much easier than others. But they're all worth the practice, right? :)

Photo cred:

Amazing gymnast picture