When I was interning in China I bought a bike to better get around Shanghai. I asked a friend how avoid an accident with the millions of other cyclists and cars in the city. Sarah responded with, "Don't be first in the group of bicyclists and don't be the last." This seemed a good summation of the Asian philosophy of the Middle Way. The "Middle Way" extends to how we think about our lives, emotions and thoughts. According to Buddhist texts there are eight opposite types of thinking we can have. They are "pleasure/pain, gain/loss, fame/disgrace and praise/blame". As a health-care professional I think about these a lot. If I fantasize about being known as "a great doctor who always give great treatments" (praise and fame), I might be equally worried about what the patient who gets worse might say about me (blame and disgrace). If I obsess about how my new office is going to benefit me financially (gain), I will be very disappointed if it doesn't (loss). Similarly, we cannot avoid pain by continually seeking pleasure. We all strive for happiness. In the "middle way", happiness is not found in pleasure, fame, praise and gain. Happiness is found in contentment by realizing that one doesn't have bounce back and forth between these dichotomies like the ball on a ping-pong table. The "Middle Way" is not joyless nor does it mean denying your emotions. To the contrary, it encourages us to be in touch with them and to look at the good and bad with a sense of humor and compassion of the human-ness of our thoughts. Put your focus on the middle of the forehead and see the space that opens up. To the left and right, the opposites recede further from the middle (way). Listen to your inner voice and see how often your perception of "feeling fantastic!" and "feeling terrible" has its roots in these dichotomies.