Maxim Monday: Nothing to Excess

Last updated on: May 20, 2013 at 7:00 am by Niki Whiting

Maxim Monday: Nothing to Excess 2013-05-20T07:00:12-08:00 Niki Whiting

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I have many people in my life who are passionate, possibly even obsessive, about their work or their hobbies or their loves. I fall into that camp, as well. It’s important to devote the necessary time, energy, focus and love toward any thing we want to excel at – and I don’t mean excel in a sense that there is something to ‘achieve.’ A thriving relationship takes time, effort, and focus. Finishing a challenging and beautiful book might take those things too.

But to balance and refuel passion we need to know when to let up. When to take a breather. We need to counter intensity with some down time. Overworking one muscle group doesn’t lead to increased strength, rather it leads to overburdened and weakened muscles. If we paint all day, every day, exercising other aspects of our creativity could open up new avenues in our work – and prevent burn out. And so on.

I’m pretty obsessive about my family. I love spending time with my husband and kids. I’m a homebody. So I sometimes have to ‘force’ myself to go out with out them or make dates with other people (not playdates with kids!). I’m obsessive about the magickal/spiritual life. I have to get myself to read outside of my subject area from time to time.

Nothing to excess. Find balance. Be well-rounded. Does this lead to all things in moderation? Funny, I find ‘all things in moderation’ to be bland, but have no issues with ‘nothing to excess.’ I guess I think to keep everything in moderation, means never getting fired up. Never getting obsessive about something. Never realizing that you’ve forgotten to eat because your book was so good. Or realized you’ve been talking with a fascinating person for 5 hours. Never having one glass of wine too many. I don’t view those things as excess really. A life without passion or intensity doesn’t seem like living to me!

Previous Post

May 17, 2013

Sweet Vacation

Next Post

May 23, 2013 Into the Woods

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Alaska altar altars Ana Ancestors Anderson witchcraft Arddu Bhairava Biography bodies books Christianity Christmas community current events death Delphic Maxims Dhumavati dual observance Durga Faery family life feminism Feri Feri tradition Feri witchcraft food ganesha gratitude Guest Post guru health Hinduism holidays Jesus Kali Lakshmi land links magic Many Gods West movie review movies music my heart mystery myth Navratri Orthodoxy pagan pagan culture paganism pantheacon parenting Place politics polytheism practice pratice prayer Red Goddess review ritual sacred arts Samhain Saraswati Shinto Shiva singing Star Goddess Tantra tarot the Gods theory Uncategorized values virgin mary wales washington winter witchcraft year in review yoga

Select a Month September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the name "Samuel" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Sent by God Gifted by God Heard by God Saved by God