Don't Stop Embracing Limits Part 2

Maybe it's just the mom in me, but have any of you noticed, how many of the sports in the Winter Olympics could lead to the participant's death? I mean, seriously, how does one learn to ski jump or ski so fast that you are airborne for 100 meters? While it makes for entertaining viewing, I can't imagine being thrilled if my kids wanted to take up halfpipe snowboarding! I thought watching them play football was bad enough for my nerves but I can't imagine watching them wipeout so hard that they crack their helmet.

And the tricks just keep getting harder and more dangerous. We appear to have a need to constantly push the limits of what has been done before. And this isn't just happening in sports. For instance, when I was young my parents forbid me from watching Hawaii 5-O. They thought that the content and images were not appropriate for young eyes. Today they air reruns of the show in the afternoon and it is rated appropriate for all viewers! The young stars today compete to see who can be more shocking. The result is that in our pursuit for the newest thing, limits have become synonymous with archaism and closed mindedness. 

Yet any teacher will tell you that kids thrive within structured limits. Why? Because they can rest. There isn't the opportunity to meet every momentary desire. So they aren't faced with the consequences of these poor choices. Thus they don't have to strive and fight and they can achieve social and academic success. Adults are the same way. I have wasted so much money on whimsical purchases that I really didn't want. Because of this, I have had to work harder. If I had accepted the financial limits of my life we could have retired young. If we say no to ourselves then we have new opportunities and choices opened up to us. I will go into this in more detail in part three of this series. Until then I want to leave you with a thought-provoking quote from Wendell Berry about his discovery of the joy of limits.

“We had entered an era of limitlessness, or the illusion thereof, and this in itself is a sort of wonder. My grandfather lived a life of limits, both suffered and strictly observed, in a world of limits. I learned much of that world from him and others, and then I changed; I entered the world of labor-saving machines and of limitless cheap fossil fuel. It would take me years of reading, thought, and experience to learn again that in this world limits are not only inescapable but indispensable.” 
― Wendell Berry, Bringing it to the Table: Writings on Farming and Food