(I know – I’ve used this image more than once. But it’s perfect for this post…)

There are certain natural, universal laws that govern how everything works. Everything from celestial movement to how electrons orbit atomic nuclei to how weather moves from west to east, these laws are immutable, and apply to all things. These laws are deceptively simple and can be summed up in one word:

Balance.

Everything has a front and a back. So, the bigger the front, the bigger the back. Balance.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Balance.

Hot and cold. Balance.

Expansion and contraction. Balance.

And so on. Balance. The ball stays at the fulcrum point, the center, of the see-saw.

So when something happens that pushes things out of balance, the universe will see to it that things are brought back into balance, back to center.

We have no say in this. This is how the universe works, and there’s nothing we humans can do to change that.

Period.

What we do have the power to do is help the universe maintain the balance. This would benefit us all, the planet we live on, our economy, our health and well-being, everything. But we’re not doing it. In fact, we’re pushing against the universe’s efforts to maintain the balance. And if you think we’re not going to pay a price for that arrogance, you are sadly mistaken. Why else are we seeing more and worse storms, more and worse wildfires? Why else is our country more divided than at any point in our history since the Civil War? Why else do we have the two worst candidates for President in our history as our only choices?

The universe requires balance. And the more extreme the front gets, the more extreme the back gets. And this is not a good thing. Pushed too far, something’s going to break.

And it doesn’t help that 90% of the human race are lazy sheep, perfectly content to be led to the slaughter by the loudest voices. Who are happy to let a few wolves do their thinking for them.

What brought this on, you ask? Well, to be perfectly honest, lately I’ve been having a bit of a crisis of conscience. I profess to live by certain principles, and I’ve come to realize I’ve been compromising some of those principles to accommodate other people, so as not to offend their own sensibilities or create any kind of conflict. As a result, my own health and well-being have been affected; nothing life-threatening or anything, but I’d be in better shape now had I stuck to my guns over the past few years and not compromised my principles.

Anyway, that line of thought led to this post. You see, the principles I have been compromising are rooted in the same universal laws of balance – Yin and Yang, to use the ancient Asian terminology. It’s not a big step, then, to see these laws at work in the world around us. How nature is trying to cool the planet. How our masters have worked to divide us. How the shriller and more extreme one party gets, the other matches.

If we do not help restore and maintain the universal balance, eventually it is all going to come crashing down around our ears. And if you think we’ve got troubles now…