Moderation in all things

This blog post was inspired by the post by the Chocolate Priestess on August 23, below.  Cerise writes:  

Balance is all.  Moderation in all things.  The Golden Mean.  These are noble goals, but it seems to be so hard for people to achieve them.  Especially in the United States, we prefer to go to extremes.  Moderation is so much better for us, but we’re not very good at it. 

For example, I, like the Chocolate Priestess, try to keep the environment in mind when making purchases and running my household.  This effort often aligns with my natural frugal tendencies.  If I can avoid buying something we don’t need, I will save money.  If I can make do with something we already have, I save more money.  If I have to buy something, maybe I can find it used, which saves me money and keeps things out of the landfill.  But I can’t always follow the most environmentally correct path, especially because my health conditions really cut into the amount of time and energy I have.  For instance, I can’t use an outdoor clothesline because my allergies would go nuts if I slept on pollen-dusted sheets.  So I try to line-dry a lot of things indoors, and never over-dry the other clothes by letting the dryer run longer than necessary.  For me, this compromise is a moderate, realistic plan. 

I have recently seen some households that make different choices.  For example, my parents and in-laws do not recycle.  Not a single thing.  Not paper, not aluminum cans, not even those ubiquitous plastic bags that every store tries to give you.  Nothing.  They laughed at us when we wanted to take some of our “trash” back home to recycle.  They said it was too much trouble.  Is it really any more trouble than taking out the trash? 

Now I will admit that we don’t take the recycling to the recycling center as often as we could, preferring to wait for it to turn into a small mountain in a corner of the garage, but it really isn’t that much trouble to recycle.  Yes, we have to drop off our own recycling, because we live outside of the city limits.  On the other hand, we don’t have to pay anyone else to pick up our recycling.  And I drive by the recycling center several times a week, anyway.  (I wonder if driving to the recycling center would otherwise negate the benefits of recycling?) 

At the other end of the spectrum, I recently visited a friend who is far more environmentally correct than I am.  She is pregnant and has a toddler, and she still finds time to do more than her fair share to save the planet.  Perhaps being a parent provides a special motivation for wanting to keep the planet in good shape for the next generation?  She is getting ready to move and she is packing with reusable storage totes and fabric for padding, rather than buying boxes and packing paper.  She was even talking about feeling guilty for not turning banana peels into chutney because she doesn’t have time.  She laughed and admitted that you can only do so much.   Trust me, dear, you don’t need to feel guilty for not eating your banana peels!  Maybe when your kids are older you can experiment with that recipe.  If you really want to. 

I think what I am trying to say is that moderation in all things extends to self-compassion.  Don’t be too hard on yourself when you can’t do it all.  You don’t have to be perfect.  You don’t have to save the world single-handedly.  Just do the best you can, with what you have, where you are.  Don’t let guilt spoil your enjoyment of life.  Give yourself a pat on the back for what you do accomplish.  Whether we are talking about recycling, cleaning house, working, spending time with your family, volunteering, or making home-cooked meals, high-achieving women tend to feel that what they do is never enough.  They feel they should be doing more.  But being realistic and taking care of yourself, too, will ultimately be the best thing for you.  And that will lead you to be able to do the most for everyone else, too.