Something that will always make me want to just throw something–anything–across the room is when I put the water tap handle thing in the middle and the water just. never gets to moderate temperature. the heater is on. What More Do You Want? Is moderation just never an option? Is this a consequence of living in such a world that values ‘perfection’, when it is, in fact, but a point of view that is very relative to one's perception, as we cannot all agree to it's definition, different to something like the sun. Then again, the sun could be defined in multiple ways, be it scientific or philosophic or even artistic, and they'd all be true in one way or another, which also applies to perfection, but I digress.
I just want to say that moderation is just not as appreciated, because we all wish to attain one of the two extremes, either superior perfection or absolute chaos and demise.
It's in humanity's nature to be ambitious–for better or for worse–, and one can never know the extent of beauty and calamity that can be caused until they try. Unfortunately for that ambitious nature, reaching the true extents of something like them is quite impossible for mortal beings that cannot even outlive a mere turtle. It's slower than you, in more ways than one, so why can you not live longer? It's just how it is–health and difference in bodily structure taken into consideration–and you can do nothing about it. You might be upset about that, but why? Are you unhappy with your ‘short’ lifespan? It is relatively moderate, being put in an advantageous spot between a turtle's several century long lifespan and a cat's decade long one.
The average human takes about twenty eight years to collect themself– for men, that is. If you consider serving two years in the military and repeating at least a semester or two in college before finally getting hired at a job with decent wage and saving enough to live independently. Women usually take a little less time than that, due to the absence of obligatory military time and encouraged marriage when beauty is at its peak.
A few years and the average human would've gained so much more wisdom and made more lasting decisions than they've ever done in the past two decades.
Ten more years and they're settled down now more than ever.
Another ten, and they're perhaps feeling a little old, maybe accomplished, maybe not, they lose a few friends, keep a few, and just resign themselves to preparing for retirement.
Alas, another ten, it's time to retire and receive a pension. It is boring, it is relaxing, it is it.
Most of what one would've been expected to do has been accomplished, cultural differences apply. Many would consider themselves to have lived an uneventful life if it was one such as this one, but I believe it to be moderate. You accomplished all you could during the time you've been given, and it's good to know that even if you didn't, you won't have to live with the regret too long, given the few years left on your lifespan and your inability to redeem past mistakes, declined health, overall strength being lost and so on and so forth. Happier people mostly live longer either way, and anyone above seventy five is susceptible to dementia and the like, so whatever is left of your life will be lived in blissful ignorance despite it all; it's still short if you aren't conscious through it. You're as good as dead to yourself.
It's better to live a shorter life with lesser time to dwell on regrets rather than a long one where you are heavy. Slow. Herbivorous.
It's moderate. It's not always happy, it's not always sad. But it's not impossibly too long. Too much of one thing, good or bad, never comes out with a favorable outcome.
At least not without a price.
I won't ask of the louder more successful lot to care for moderate, because moderate means that you've decided to be unambitious, not striving towards either perfection or demise and whatnot. But at least they could make an effort to understand that some find moderate to be their version of ‘perfection’ or otherwise ‘demise’.
Moderate can be perfect to those who believe so.
It can be dooming to those who believe so.
As unadventurous and average as it is, it is the sweet tame and quiet sorrow that helps keep balance in such an ambitious world.
Tdlr: I need to be more patient while I wait for the water to get warmer and be grateful it'll ever get warm. Some people don't have that option... And maybe go to sleep too.
