Happy Medium

By Gregory Adelberg
University of Kansas

Finding that middle ground, or as I like to refer to it, that "happy medium," is the key to life. It not only allows one to lead a successful life, but also a truthful one filled with health, love, openness and the ability to experience and grow. I’ve built my whole character upon this idea of living a "happy medium" lifestyle. I would describe myself as a person constantly trying to lay in the cut, my personality floating somewhere in-between a deep thinker and an "average Joe." Through some positive, but mostly negative, experiences, I’ve found that if you take or try and accomplish or do too much of something, you’ll end up hurting yourself. Likewise, if you don’t do enough of one thing, you’ll not only experience negativity but you might also regret not trying to have done more. Breathing and walking that fine line in that grey area makes the most sense, as it allows continual growth while permitting one’s character to maintain a firm hold on his or her own ideals.

When I start to think about how I am living, this "happy medium" I have wrapped my personality around says it all. I currently am at a stage in my life where I have decided to put my goals before almost all else. There is so much I want to accomplish: School, travel, experience and, of course, money. Right now, I’m living how I see fit. But this doesn’t mean that I don’t help numerous people and ideals on a daily basis that happen to walk within my path.

Everyday I sacrifice my time in order to makes others more livable. But putting my own life now in the forefront ensures the well-being and health of those around me. You could say I am sacrificing a bit now, in order to sacrifice myself more down the road. I am seeking to go to school to provide equal opportunity for citizens of all races, cultures, and ethnicities by working with local communities as an Urban Planner. I am trying to create a better society and a better world. I wish to grow and experience the world we live in now, to gain a better understanding of life and to help on a level later that I would otherwise never be able to reach. Sacrifice is embedded in my personality and is what I believe is a very essential key to a complete life. If you don’t do things for others, then what are you? Who are you as a person? When you sacrifice something, you are giving an item or idea up in exchange for one of greater value, for the greater good.

Sacrifice is important, but like all else must lie within that "happy medium." If you sacrifice too much, you yourself will never become that person into whom you honestly believe you can grow. If you sacrifice too little, you will never be able to experience and thus understand the meaning of compassion, peace and life. Succeeding in living a truthful and positive life through sacrifice can be compared to a fire, an object that has helped humans evolve since its discovery. By taming a fire and allowing it to not die, while at the very same time not permitting it to grow and burn uncontrollably, you are able to benefit from its wonders. If you allow it to perish or burn out of hand, you will never reap its rewards.

Greg Adelberg was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Kansas, from which he graduated with a Bachelors Degree in American Studies. As a dual citizen, he is currently awaiting acceptance to graduate school in Canada where he hopes to study Urban Planning in order to create sustainable environments and provide equal opportunity to all peoples.

[Posted 12/21/06]