Transposing emblem by Marilin Guerrero Casas

Every single persona has a different perspective on the world. Some people see it in black, others in white. Thus, as humans, we are always trying to label our life experiencias. We tend to define momentos and people with a simple good or bad. The reason we do it is because we live in a polarizado world, where there is always someone who’s right and another one who’s wrong. Sometimes we don’t realize that life is much more complicada and challenging than just saying a word or taking a side. Fortunately, it is not just black or white for everyone. There are still a few people who see colores in between. There are more layers when we look at a situation, when we face a problema or make a hard choice. So, there’s no need to lock ourselves in a box by putting a limit on our thoughts and actions. There’s no need to have an extremo point of view. It’s not all or nothing like most people are prone to think. There’s actually room for all kinds of analyses and opinions. A person’s mind is always in constant change, it is a never-ending thinking machine. Therefore, we shouldn’t be afraid to open ourselves up to exploring new options and considering new ideas.

Plenty of times, I have found myself in situaciones where sticking to a polarized point of view has made me fail in my professional and personal life. When we argue with our friends or our partner, sometimes we are so focused on being right that we actually forget about what we are arguing over in the first place and we are unable to listen to the other person’s side of the story. We are unlikely to think clearly and we fail to communicate with each other; which is so important in any kind of relationship, especially if we are seeking a solución to the problem, a way through. The same happens in the professional área, with our boss or co-workers. It is important to express our opinions in front of the people we work with and let them know what we think about certain matters. That is one thing we should always be clear about. We shouldn’t change our character, thoughts, and actions to please someone. But all extremos are indeed bad, even the good ones. Being too smart sometimes makes us arrogant; being too nice sometimes makes it easier for other people to take advantage of us. The key is to find a balance in everything we do: in the way we behave; in the way we think; in the way we communicate with people. It is necessary to have the courage to give in and admit that we can’t always be right.

Yet, humans are designed to take things to extremos. It is in our nature to take risk and try everything we can to attain our goals. We want the best job, house, car, computer, clothes… We want fama and fortune. We want money and we are willing to do everything in our power to get it. But can all these things bring the happiness we are desperately pursuing? Perhaps… It’s just a matter of percepción. For some happiness is comfort, for others reputation and ambition, and few think it has everything to do with love. It’s just up to what is gratifying for us. Either way, we can’t manage to break this ciclo because we all want the same. We are all deeply involved in this nonstop search for happiness. Though most of the time we are not aware that it’s very likely to harm us in our attempt to pursue it. That’s why it is so crucial to find emotional estabilidad in our lives. It helps us face our hardships successfully and makes us realize that we don’t actually need too much to be happy. We should only enjoy every momento of our lives to the full because we will never be free of obstáculos along the way and there’s no specific path we should follow to achieve happiness. Alfred D’Souza said once that “happiness is a journey, not a destination” and I’ve never agreed more.

However, it’s been proven that experiencing extreme and overwhelming levels of happiness is something bad. When we get used to feeling happy all the time, we become careless about the risks we are taking because we believe we are strong enough to do anything. We are living in a bubble where everything we see is positive and tend to overlook any potential danger that may arise. Or sometimes it is the other way around; it makes us incapable of adapting to new circunstancias and responding to new challenges. That’s why the world has to be simétrico and polarizado, but there must also be layers in each extreme. The truth is that we need a little of everything; even negative emotions like fear and anger are necessary in certain contexts of our lives. The key is to have the right amount of each. No more, no less. So, how can we achieve a moderate, healthy happiness? How can we avoid extremes? I believe we should reach a state of equilibrio when the péndulo swings from side to side. Don’t choose an opposite; exploring the middle can actually be a good way out. Turn expectations into a wide range of possibilities. Be open-minded. Don’t think in extremes; in this way we are not limitando by our thoughts and acciones. Don’t polarize ideas and points of view. Finding moderation can be quite helpful. It’s not all about a contest we must win or lose; it’s about learning to live and making good use of our knowledge. It’s about admitting there are more colores than black and white. There’s actually a broad spectrum of shades we can paint our life with.