US was recently hit by one of the severest snow storms, affecting 80 Million people across 20 states and causing serious disruptions and damages. On 26-December- 2004, world was shaken by great Indian Ocean tsunami, which had released energy equivalent of 23,000 Hiroshima type atomic bombs, as per U.S. geological Survey and killing more than 150,000 people! Giant forces, which had been building up deep in the earth apparently for years suddenly got busted on that day, unleashing killer water waves in Indian Ocean at the speed of a jet airliner!!
Are such catastrophes actually retaliations by nature against excessive tempering by man?
Nature has gifted enormous energy reservoirs of oil and gas in extreme terrains and environments in Middle East, Russia and elsewhere, as if hardships are being rewarded with high returns. It seems often common that right things are found at the wrong places and wrong things are found at the right places. Boom in oil and gas production led to unprecedented economic and industrial growth in last 2 decades and its price peaked at US $ 145 per barrel in July, 2008. On one hand, it led to lot of innovations in explorations and extractions like oil/gas from sea using floating platforms, sand containing bitumen and shale gas and stimulated huge investments to build additional production capacities. On other hand, easy money generated by oil and gas business found its conduit to political rivalries, unrests, wars and terror, which has slowly sucked world economies into turmoil and tumbled oil prices to around US $ 30, as of now. No one knows how much of ecological and geological imbalances that we are witnessing are on account of extraction of this commodity in huge quantity from underground and sea!
Look at countries or regions, which have population in excess of available resources. When we look at their history of calamities, it seems to support economic ideas advanced by noted Thomas Robert Malthus in 1798 that unchecked population growth would be countered and compensated by deaths, diseases, wars etc.
Is it that nature refuses to entertain the extremes for too long and endeavors to balance?
Answer is yes; it appears not only true at global or macro level but also at personal or micro level! Look at following examples:
- If we hold any item in excess, we tend to consume more and also waste more.
- When quantity of anything goes up, quality comes down and invariably, there are more rejections.
- When you have wealth in excess of what you can manage, you are more likely to deploy it for wrong or loss making use or it would lie dormant, losing its value significantly over time.
- If you have too much knowledge, you develop lot of differences with others, make bad experiences and eventually, it becomes your liability.
- If you are too beautiful, you would get too exposed; get into wrong acts only to make beauty your bane.
Nature seems to be overly against overindulgence of any kind!
Excess of anything is bad; but excess of no-thing is also bad!
We all know that anything in excess is bad; but what is very interesting is to know that excess of not doing anything is worse.
If you communicate with people too less, you would be isolated; deprived of opportunities; get in depression inviting clinical advice to mix with people.
If you spend too sedentary a life, you would be sucked into health issues forcing you to change your life style.
So, message of nature is – do little (moderate) of everything that it has provided to you or else face its fury!
Why nature brings down “excess” to “enough”!
There are 2 main reasons –
- Nature excels and allow you to excel under state of equilibrium.
Whenever nature’s equilibrium is disturbed, it would react to restore it. Depending upon type and extent of such disturbance in short or long term, nature’s corrective action can be mild or massive.
Corporate gurus go gaga over disruptive technologies; but they seem to fall short on their vision of nature’s balancing act! - Law of least chaos demands that each object or area be charge neutral.
Whether we take atom or universe, it is charge neutral and that is what gives it stability. If any object or part/whole area becomes polarized – positive or negative, it would become chaotic until it gets neutralized again.
Anger or anxiety, ferocity or fundamentalism of an individual comes, when he becomes net negative; likewise, ecstasy comes when one is highly positive. What is war on terror? It is a struggle between highly negative and positive minds or people! It is not divine driven!!
Eventually, everyone has to come to normal (neutralized) state, if he/she has to survive!
Drawing a line between what is excess and what is enough!
Common perception is that it is difficult! Difficulty is really with our unwillingness to draw the line itself! Most people like to keep it vague; not realizing that brings serious problems. Then, they derive consolation by blaming their fate or consider it fait-accompli!
“Enough” is always efficient; but “Excess” is invariably extraneous and waste of energy and money!
World leaders and thinkers have so far failed to define importance of such distinction – excess vs enough – and create correct understanding of nature’s demand for balancing or moderation. They are clueless on how crises and conflicts develop, when no thoughts are given to balancing population vs resources, technological advancements vs moral advancements, industrial development vs nature’s development, quantity vs quality.
It is a very simple mantra:
Line between enough and excess is best drawn, when you differentiate your needs from wants or desires; distinguish your goals from your greed!
So, for all levels – individual to international – message of Mother Nature is clear – moderation; balancing; stay in center; don’t lean on left or right. You would then surely secure your future and that of future generations!
Leave a Reply