Balancing Act

Yesterday morning I experienced a rather curious sensation. As I was trying to get out of bed, I felt as though my legs were weighted down, and also were shaky and unable to support my body. Lacking a place to go to, or a thing to do there, I rapidly decided that the best course of action would be to immediately return to bed, which is what I did. Afterwards, while I was reflecting on the situation, I found myself thinking that, if I were to describe what I had felt, I would say that it felt as though my legs were simultaneously made of lead and rubber. Very curious indeed.

Most likely, this (and the sore, tense feeling in my legs that persisted for much of the day) was due to me overexerting myself during my Monday afternoon weight-lifting session. (I've been trying to get back into better shape, so I'm walking around more (cardio) and weight-lifting twice a week. My walking is helped by the recent weather; it's been lovely outside lately!) While it is necessary to push yourself when weight-training (or any kind of exercise, really), overexerting yourself can (and will) have a detrimental impact on your body. Do it once or twice, and you'll be sore the following day (or days); keep overexerting yourself again and again, and you'll give yourself an overuse injury.

The trick is to find the middle ground wherein you are exerting yourself sufficiently that you benefit from the activity, but are not overexerting yourself and potentially injuring yourself.

It's a balancing act.

Balance. Now there's something we've all encountered before. An idea that has been brought up again and again throughout history. Two sides, standing opposite each other. Neither one truly able to overwhelm the other. Or the act of not allowing one to overwhelm the other.

Good and Evil. Light and Darkness. Order and Chaos. Famous pairings, that show up again and again in art, religion, philosophy. Strange isn't it? The way that these pairings each oppose and clash with each other, and yet, they need each other. Any of these notions on their own lose all meaning without their counterpart to stand against them. What does it mean to be good in a world without evil? What is chaos without order to rebel against?