The Middle is Anything but Mediocre

“The Middle Way.” Ah, yes, I remember very well BOTH the allure AND the terror that this phrase conjured inside me as I studied Buddhist tenets in my younger years.

On the one hand there was the promise of an enduring peace in the absence of extremes. However, on the other was what I believed to be a dirth of ecstatic states of bliss, elevation and ascension that I and others were seeking to achieve and sustain as we navigated transition in our lives.

What could possibly be so special about the middle, I worried and wondered? How indescribably boring—and frankly depressing—would it be to ride that nowhere train for any length of time?

What I couldn’t see then, however, is that it was indeed my natural disposition to stand in the middle and see clearly all sides. This is one of my greatest gifts. So it’s not really surprising that in times of stress and confusion—of feeling disconnected with who I truly am—that I would reach to an extreme in order to have something to hold on to.

I still experience this, actually. It’s one of my cues that I’m feeling challenged in some area of my life.

As it turns out, it is when I can stand firmly and confidently in the middle of the road and behold the entire periphery that I am at my most empowered and in my deepest states of wisdom.

How about you? Do you ever find yourself reaching for some type of pinnacle that appears to hold the answer to all of your challenges?