I challenge you to a duel...or perhaps a dual?

Recently I cleaned my refrigerator, microwave and toaster. These are not projects I enjoy, but the end result is always quite pleasing. It occurred to me about halfway through that if I were to clean them more often (the current rate being about once every few months), it would be much easier and less...unpleasant.

I've made a habit of looking at the small things in life and seeing the positive in them. It's created a world of beauty, love and wonder for me.

And so in my new quest for balance, I'm trying to do the same. Look at what surrounds me. Learn from life: the greatest teacher of all. And life is telling me that the food in the microwave would be easier to scrape off and the leftovers would be better tended to in the refrigerator if I just made a small effort more often. I wouldn't have to go to extremes, using chemicals and paint scrapers, to get the results I wanted.

The bottom line is this: maintaining balance is not a weekend retreat. This is not something anyone can do for a few hours a week and check it off their to-do list. It's an attitude. It's a brain path that needs to be created. And just like the path in the woods, the more often it's traveled the easier it becomes.

So in the spirit of sanguinity, I challenge myself (and others) to find the lesson of the middle-ground in every day moments. And while it may be challenging and unpleasant, the end result is inevitably worth the effort.