While separated by millennia, Goldilocks and Aristotle have something in common. In the case of Goldilocks, she chose things that were in the middle. Not too hot or too cold. Not too big or too small. “Just right!”
Centuries before that story was told, Aristotle talked about the Golden Mean. He taught that lives that work tend to avoid overdoing it in any area. Too much or too little of anything can often cause things to break down.
Too much risk-taking can lead to reckless behavior and a resulting train wreck. Too little risk-taking can lead to caution at such a level that you never leave your house, that you hold yourself prisoner and miss the chance to really live. In the middle of those two extremes lies courage, the ability to judge the right amount of risk for the situation. It’s just right.
It turns out that the same principle applies to how we refine our practice. Smart adjustments start by seeing whether the pattern we’re addressing comes from doing something too much or too little. Once we know that, we can bring things back into balance.
Who knew that Goldilocks was such a pro?
