Everything in Moderation...

 You've probably heard it from a health professionals, in ads or from that local gym.  Can I eat some chocolate? How about a bag of chips?

Everything is okay to to eat... in moderation.. right?

I am fortunate have been born in a part of the world that values human rights and freedoms. One of these in particular is the 'right' to free speech. We have the right to say what we feel and think, positive or negative, to share our thoughts with others - this is an important aspect of society.

Just follow one of the many tweets from Elon Musk, and you can see how much he believes in Free Speech, or for charges brought against others who have attempted to the hinder free speech of others

In our world, we are constantly inodiated with information, with the free speech of those around us, and the responsibilities that come with it.

There is a man I admire greatly, who gave a lot of talks over his lifetime - his name is Dr Wayne Dyer. He gives one speech about an orange, that truly changed the way I look at things!

When you squeeze an orange, what to you expect to come out of it ?

Orange Juice - right ? - You don't expect apple juice to come out of it ?, You don't expect grapefruit juice?

Why do you expect orange juice?

..because that is what is inside of it !

Dr Dyer leadership style, really inspires me, I suppose you could call it a type of  servant leadership, or maybe a 'socratatic method'.  He doesn't preach what he thinks is right or wrong, but simply asks basic questions.

The orange represents us -  as human beings, when we are squeezed (metaphorically speaking), due to pressure/stress, 'life'. The only thing that cam come out of us is what we put into us.

The phrase 'you are what you eat' also is used in healthy eating circles, but the lesson here is that it applies more to just what we eat, we are what we take in, what we absorb through all of our senses, and what we choose to hold on to, and what we choose to let go.

If we surround ourselves with fear, anger, hatred, frustration. If we listen to podcasts, news articles and messages telling ourselves everything is hopeless, that is the food of our minds.  Then when we are squeezed, what comes out of us has to be that same fear, anger, hopelessness because just like the orange what comes out is exactly what was inside it.

Unlike an orange, however, we are the agents of what is inside us. We are in control of that information. We can choose to surround ourselves with messages of hope, opportunity, optimism , curiosity about the world around us and our fellow human beings living in it. So that when we are squeezed - now guess what will come out of us?

Let me give you a concrete example of this in action.

DamiLola Ajibade frequently posts videos on her Linked In page that I highly recommend you checkout and follow.  At the time of this writing she was finishing up her review of 'Why-Day Wednesday'. In each short video she fills you up with thoughts of purpose, passion & energy.

If you 'squeezed' DamiLola (METAPHORICALLY!) it is abundantly clear that what would come out of her is that same joy, energy and passion that she is choosing to fill herself up with everyday, and by following her videos, you too can make the choice to fill yourself too!

So if given the choice to fill yourself up with optimism, hope, and practice ideas on a path of improvement, or fill yourself with regrets, despair, hopelessness, and 'why me' -what choice are you going to make

Moderation of speech gets a bad rap, and indeed their is a good reason for this. In some parts of the world communication with the outside world is deliberately limited, people are not free to have simple discussions or debates like you and I can today. Propaganda is used as a tool to try and control a population.

But let's not throw the baby out with the bathwater - If I freely choose to join a community, be it a physical club like Kinsmen, Rotary or even Toastmasters, or a virtual group like DamiLola on linked in, or Facebook or Twitter. That group was put their with a vision (hopefully) and that vision includes communicating messages. 

The people who are in these groups, are their for a reason, and those who moderate it are the guardians of that reason.

They have chosen to lead themselves to surround themselves with the messages that they want to fill their minds and hearts, and because we are fortunate to live in a free part  of the world, if those messages no longer suit a members particular needs they are free to leave and explore new interests and new ideas.

I aspire to be someone like Wayne Dyer, and to understand that if I ever have any hope of leading others, it first starts with leading myself.

The first step of leading oneself is to think about the information you are allowing to enter your own mind. So I suggest that we all start by recognizing that we have a choice to what we pay attention too and again

What choice are you going to make?