Middle Path Perspective

By Steve Mills

There is nothing like two weeks holiday to break you from the everyday routine, it removes you long enough from your standard habitual patterns so that you can see things from a different angle. I have just returned from two weeks holiday and feel very refreshed. I spent the time just relaxing, meeting folks and exploring the beautiful area of far north Queensland with my family. I also had some very interesting conversations with a few people up there, and have come back ready to tackle the second half of the year. Having a break like that is a great way to gain a fresh perspective of you life, and the way you choose to live the other weeks of the year at home and work.

In the last few days of holidays instead of having the “I have to go back to work soon” feelings of dread, I spent my free time thinking long and hard about how to best retain my holiday mindset. I decided to make it my single point of focus to find as much balance as is possible, and to continue to be mindful of this through the rest of the year.

I have made a conscious effort not get sucked 100% into the “work is the most important thing, put all of your attention here” game, and instead to realise that I am someone with many different facets and interests. I have realised that everything in my life is as important as everything else, not just in an intellectual sense (that I have always known) but I now grasp it with a deeper understanding. Family, music, writing, exploring new concepts, travelling, interacting are all as VALID as working 50 hours a week. It is all about retaining the mindset of dynamic balance. Sure there are going to be people and events who are trying to steer you in one direction or another, but my goal is a natural equilibrium that is centred and focussed on the things that matter most.

I think of it as walking the middle path.

TO look at a single example, look at the area of your life that deals with your job, and how you earn your income. Too little attention in this area and you will lose motivation, accomplish nothing and find it hard to remain employed. Too much and it will consume you totally and leave you a mindless, stressed out drone destined for a life of boredom, being used by a company, or driving yourself crazy, feeling sick when you don’t have your nose to the proverbial grindstone.

If you find the middle path in this area though, you keep the work aspect of your life in perspective. You realise its importance in the current state of modern society (for most people) and how it allows you to keep food on the table, and provide for those you love, but don’t let it define you. By making the entire picture of your life the object of your focus, instead of just one small aspect (and then letting all of the other aspects of your life seem like a distraction, annoyance or barrier), you accomplish far more in total then letting one area of your life dominate your mental landscape. It is really my goal to make my life (those things that I naturally enjoy) my work, and my work my life.

The key for me is going to be dynamic balance, to be able to focus on work 100% while in front of the screen (or perhaps 80%, let’s be realistic), and then be able to shift gears and start to work on my writing, music and other interests. Middle path thinking doesn’t mean that you are always going to go the average, middle of the road way. It just means that you realise the importance of your default mode, being the balance point between two extremes.