Steering a middle course between being elated and being dejected does not mean resigning ourselves to a flat and monotonous life. Far from it. There is a third state which is neither elation nor depression, and if we can avoid these two extremes, we will find the abiding joy which is our real nature. Most of us have little objection to getting elated, but none of us are very eager to see gloom setting in. We don’t mind being told not to get depressed, but “Don’t let yourself get elated” sounds puritanical. Yet the time to be cautious is when the mind is starting to get elated. That is not the time to pick up the phone and talk and talk. When you are able to see the specter lurking behind elation and have some personal experience of the joy which transcends both, you will come to look upon excitement with a healthy suspicion.