Meet Me In The Middle.

Center, middle, medium, moderation. These four words represent one guiding thought process, principle if you want to call it that, in my life.

Center, equidistant from two or more extremes.
How you stay in balance when you stand, the guy that snaps the football to get the play started. I think we all agree that being a "centered" person is best. Nobody likes to be around a person that is extreme in any one way.

Middle, equidistant from two or more extremes.
When you drive down the road, you keep your car in the middle of your lane to avoid collisions, leaving the roadway, signposts and other hazards. Reasonable approach to driving, that the vast majority of the time works out very well. The middle class can be argued as being the single biggest stabilizing factor for any country, politically and economically. By not just having a huge under class with a small top class, a country can enjoy economic growth and opportunity for its citizens. Middle...it is actually where it happens.

Medium, the average of two extremes.
When you are ordering something to eat or drink and you've either never tried it or are just not sure how much you want, you get a medium. Nice safe choice. If you don't specify how you want your steak, it will come out medium. Why? Because it will please the largest number of diners and represents the least risk to the restaurant and chef.

Moderation, not doing, taking, eating, drinking or acting in any extreme manner.
"All things in moderation." It seems to be human nature to react to something bad by stopping it altogether, or to something good by going full tilt with it. Diets are a great example. Carbs aren't bad, but lots of carbs are. Meat isn't bad, but eating huge amounts of it is. Sugar isn't bad, but consuming lots of it certainly is. Heck, you can even take too many vitamins.

I happen to believe that politics and an approach to government and dealing with a large, complex society like ours is no different. All things in moderation is a very good way to enjoy what you want, without creating problems or having to go extreme measures to undo what was done.

I am asking you to meet me in the middle. There is a LOT of room as our country is practically a 50/50 split between the two extremes.

I am willing to bet that there are far more people in this country whose approach to life and their belief systems are somewhere in this vast middle ground. I for one cannot say I support either of our two big political parties completely. I don't agree with every single plank in their platforms but I sure do agree with quite a few in each. So what does that make me? I think it makes me a person with his own thoughts and ideas, that recognizes different situations require different approaches and there is no one blanket school of thought that can handle everything.

I'm not saying that I'm right about everything, but I can say that when I have in fact aligned myself with one party, I immediately start struggling with certain items or beliefs of that party. I've been a Democrat, I've been a Republican, I've gone independent. I can't find a political home. I don't think I'm alone.

Let's start a movement back to the middle.

You don't HAVE to choose one side or the other...think about who it is that is telling you that you have to? Those two sides. They want and need us to pick a side in order to maintain their power and control. It is probably the one thing that they all secretly agree on: Keep them divided and keep the gap close, then we will ALL maintain our power and wealth.

A final thought about that: When there is a coin toss, you're told to pick heads or tails. Pick one side of the coin. You feel like you have a choice, but in fact, even though there are two sides of a coin, in political terms, it is still just two sides of the same coin.

Over time, I'll be posting a lot more about this particular topic because I truly believe that as an approach to politics, particularly in our current "environment" today, it is really the only way to a better life, a better country and a better future.

JReed...Says Be Well.