RECONCILIATION OF OPPOSITES — BLENDING

All extremes have their opposites. One cannot exist without the other. Extremes tend to cause a system to become imbalanced, and if not motified by an some force, eventually to fly apart. The human being is a system.

Not an easy task, being counter intuitive as it is, balancing opposing forces is fundamental to every aspect of our lives. Yes, that is a big statement. It can sound presumptuous and prideful. Perhaps it is, but I, for one, know no greater philosophic endeavor.

I will do what little I can to elucidate, and find a little humility. Humility does not come easily to me, although knowing some of my limitations as I do, one might expect I should live a most humble life.

It seems I have wandered into the first example of “Blending of Opposites” — humility and pride.

We all at some time experience both of these opposing conditions. They tend to sneak up on us, to be discovered only after they have influenced our behavior, for good or ill.

Neither condition is either all right or all wrong. They both have their roll to play. We are encouraged to be humble, but pride, in careful doses, has its roll to play. Pride is a natural reaction to discovering we have done something well. In itself, it is not a negative feeling. But, like guilt, if we harbor this emotion and allow it to become part of us, we are in trouble.

A dose of humility may need to be forced upon us to balance pride back into its helpful roll of rewarding and encouraging us, but…