Many are highly aware of the old saying, “All or Nothing.” However, when you really think about it the decisions you make in life are hardly every that black and white. For how often does someone truly risk all that they have for a chance to obtain everything? Surely it happens but much less than it appear. In fact, it’s due to the same “All or Nothing” philosophy that most people forever end up with half or in the middle.
The thin line
Would you rather have everything you’re always wanted in life or nothing at all? Now it may seem that there could (or should) be only one answer to this question. But there are actually people who don’t want anything out of this world. Call them depressed, delusional or crazy but such people do exist.
But yes, the majority of people would surely say that they prefer to have everything. Knowing this, immediately one may think: yeah, but it’s impossible to have everything. Depending on how you look at it, it’s very possible to obtain everything. But the first step is to clearly understand the difference between what’s black and white and what’s in the middle.
What’s in the middle
You’re in a relationship with someone who treats you well, looks after you and makes $200,000 a year. That’s black. You suddenly find yourself interested in someone else: a billionaire who can offer you everything you’ve ever wanted in the world and would do everything to make you happy. That’s white. And you, secretly cheating on your partner who has always been there for you while you get to freely travel the world, gathering new experiences, is the middle.
The middle is fun and exciting; you can get all of your needs met at the expense of someone else, except in the long run that “someone else” becomes you. It takes a lot of time and effort to consistently lie to others but it’s far easier to consistently lie to yourself. Don’t think that the things you do (or don’t do) won’t eventually come back to help or hurt you.
Most people probably believe that having the best of both worlds (aka being in the middle) is best. But it’s actually not. Half a loaf of bread is better than none they say. In theory, this is correct. But even the Bible says that if you try to serve two masters at once you’ll eventually love one and hate the other. That love or hate solely determines whether you will end up in the middle.
The difference when you love
When you have love for something, or someone, you will always put your heart and soul—your everything—into it. Logically, when you hate something the opposite becomes true. So when you love and hate and something at the same time (if this actually exists) it eventually shows up in the form of half-baked or lukewarm efforts.
It will become a constant juggling act where you are never able to give 100% of yourself to one thing; you will be constantly forced to maximize your time, energy and resources to sustain both things. And you will do this until one or both have to be lessened or eliminated.
The truth about balance
More applicable to daily life, “stay in the middle” manifests itself in various forms. It shows in the example with the relationship above. It can come in the form of you having to decide if to leave your full time job or start a business. And it can also come in the form of you consistently having to choose higher education verses having the time to consistently have fun and relaxation each day.
To reiterate, when balancing between multiple things it works, but it only works for a period of time. It’s up to each person to determine for how long they can effectively balance; each person must know that at some point they are going to be forced to choose a particular side. At that point you will also be forced to live with the end result of all your actions or lack thereof.
So yes, in this life you can indeed get everything you’ve always wanted or you can get nothing at all. Or you can simply be like most people and get “everything”, yet nothing more at all. Most people, out of fear of having nothing, may forever remain in the middle but the rest may fear nothing because they know that everything—and the world—is theirs for the taking.
