I find it easy to go to extremes. Take this summer. Despite having plenty of time, I really don’t feel like writing. Instead, all I want to do is lie around reading. I’ve binged my way through over twenty books in the last month and there are days when I really lost track of time.

What is it about summer? The heat? Vacation mode? All those school years that taught us summer is for goofing off? For some reason, summer weather hits, and instead of wanting to enjoy it, I feel like hibernating.

To remind me, and anyone else who finds themselves doing something extreme, I’m posting this quote:

Happiness is a place between too much and too little.

Finnish Proverb

Despite the temptation to read my summer, if not my life, away, I know I will feel better both physically and mentally if I can find a little balance. I need some time outdoors as well as in, to talk to people instead of just hiding my nose in a book. It’s easy to overdo things, because it doesn’t require any new decisions. You just keep doing what you were already doing.

Moderation asks us to keep ourselves in check, to turn off Netflix instead of watching yet another episode of The Umbrella Academy when we’ve already seen three in a row. It requires us to make decisions, to mix things up, to make a change in our activities throughout the course of the day, week, month, year. No wonder moderation is so hard.

My current consolation is the common belief that even moderation can be over done. This leaves me room for the occasional book binge or movie marathon. But if I want to truly be happy, I need to move towards more balance.

How do you spend your summers? Do you ever binge on books? Netflix? Or is moderation easy for you?