The Lost “Middle Way”
The world is obsessed with, and seems to be getting worse at, engaging in extremes. It seems if you don’t have an opinion on every topic these days, and are not prepared to shout down anyone who disagrees with you…then you are dismissed as apathetic.
We will never move forward as a society by living our lives in the extremes. We have lost the Art of The Middle Way…
The environment, religion, guns (in America), and a multitude of other issues have all become more extreme. Both sides of the debate continue to harden their stances and are looking first to defend their opinions, instead of listening to understand.
Many of these issues have become all about peoples’ “Rights” and their “Responsibilities” have been left behind in the dust like some form of archaic and quaint notion of a bygone era.
Anyone in business knows you reach agreement through compromise, that making a deal means listening to your opponent and understanding what makes them tick and then addressing those issues. Lasting deals are not reached through an imbalance in power or bullying.
In any topic there are obviously lines that you won’t cross, but it seems these lines have been withdrawn further and further such that the no-man’s land between opinions seems insurmountable.
What if we just stopped trying to defend our opinion or position, just for a moment, and actually listened to what the other side is saying, with a view to understanding their extreme opinion. This isn’t easy as our immediate reaction is to defend our view…but just try. The Middle Way is the only way we can Live a Life Worth Living.
