Perhaps you thought that moderation was your friend.

It is time to put an end to moderation and change the conversation.

First, let’s really flesh out what moderation is and why it is a problem. Moderation is the thought in our minds that justifies putting XYZ into our body or indulging in various moods or behaviors with the thought that we can balance it out later—a little bit of poison now is okay because I will just make up for it later.

We rationalize how that non-food junk food is okay because, “I am only going to have a little bit.” However, moderation is not definable. A little bit could be a lot for your body and mind. A little bit may take us on a road that we do not want to go down.

Also, when we say, “everything is okay if in moderation,” we are opening ourselves up to a pandora’s box of imbalance that can make us lazy.

This mode of thinking sets us up to not function at the level of thriving and our fullest potential. Moderation can be just another excuse for mediocrity, complacency and/or apathy. We know intuitively that these habits of being unconscious will never help us experience our optimal performance whether creatively, emotionally or physically.

In order to feel space, energy and vitality in our body we may need to completely shift our lifestyle for a period of time so that we can get different outcomes in our life.

I remember someone saying once (and this has been shared with frequency by other people) that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and trying to get different results. Moderation is doing the same thing over and over again.

What we put into our bodies and minds matters.

While “stress” is often referred to as bad we do need a healthy amount of stress to thrive. The right kind of stress can help us grow in ways that enhance our lives. For example, exercise creates a certain amount of stress in our body that can help us cultivate greater endurance. flexibility and strength.

Sometimes being on a creative edge can feel like stress when we are in the midst of it and then we breakthrough to a new flow. There is some discomfort in growth and innovation. However, it is a very different discomfort than trashing our bodies and minds by falling into experiences that are toxic. The questions to ask are:

1) Is the stress we are inviting into our body or mind enhancing our growth?

2) Is the stress worth it?

Historically, people who were able to go against the grain of mainstream, who were thought of as a little bit weird or eccentric, ultimately brought more innovation, creativity, and inspiration to the world. They had to live differently in order to bring in new experiences that others could share.

The hard part is to give up the “shoulds” of everyone around us (and what we have taken on) and to dare to find the inspiration, focus and drive to realize our dreams.

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Editor: Catherine Monkman

Photo: Ernesto Andrade/Flickr