My bold proposal is that instead of all overage, we practice under-extending ourselves. A graphic analogy to demonstrate this is to picture a rubber band around a deck of cards. If band is stretched to its ultimate, adding even one more card will cause it to break and all of cards will scatter. If band still has some slack and can stretch further, more cards may be added and deck will stay intact.

If our lives are like that deck of cards and our rubber band has stretching room, we will be free to add more to our lives without losing our integrity. For example, if you have a reserve of money and a great investment opportunity presents itself, you can take advantage of it. If you keep reserves of time and energy, when unexpected events occur you can handle them without undue stress. If you under-promise to family and friends and then deliver in excess of promise, you are a hero.

Steve and i have been best friends for about twenty years now. Like most people we've had our ups and downs over years and despite moving to different areas we've still kept in touch. In fact i really like that about our friendship, no matter what happens we'll always keep in touch and support each other. We're not really kind of best friends that contact each other every day or even every other day. On average its probably about every two to three weeks.

I suppose like most people we have tried to weave our way through life with what we have. Neither of us setting world alight when we left school with only minor school qualifications and not really being good at anything in particular.

Steve had always considered himself impaired in some way. He discovered he was dyslexic sometime later and led a dyslexic life. He didnt read or write unless forced and this ultimately had a huge impact on his life. He didnt learn much and he didnt know what was going on in world because he didnt watch news, read newspapers, books or sign up for any courses. Worst of all, he increasingly suffered from a lack of self-confidence that affected everything he did or thought about doing negatively. I noticed it more and more and it really got me down to see him like that. I tried to encourage him telling him he could do anything he wanted and giving examples of people who had achieved in their lives often against what seemed to be huge obstacles. It wasnt having much effect he just saw negative.