my ever-developing decision making skills

Life is balance. Faith is balance. Politics (oh help) is balance. There are always extremes, and undoubtedly someone will always claim both extremes on either side of just about EVERYTHING to be truth. I have found, in many many cases, that truth comes from the balance of both (schoolwork vs. friends, over-defensive vs. doormat, legalism vs. Christian freedom, etc.).

Let's just say, hypothetically, that I don't find the exact balance of everything in my life. Just for an example. What then? Falling on either side of that balance line brings consequences; we, humans, will probably hit it right on very few times in our lives, so the question becomes... which consequences would I rather deal with?

I think I've made preliminary decisions at least on some of the contradicting views in my life. I would rather deal with reading something offensive from time to time than have to fight to make my views heard from time to time. I would rather have a bad grade or two than regret not investing time into someone. I would rather put my whole heart and effort into a relationship I believe in and have my heart broken than always be cautious and have to settle for something easier. I would rather regret what I did than regret what I didn't do. I'd rather put a lot of convicts in jail for a long time than find out later that we used the death penalty on even one innocent person (which we've discovered several times--I used to be in favor of the death penalty). I would rather be somewhat taken advantage of than somewhat take advantage of someone else. I generally tend to err on the side of being too nice than too mean.

I doubt I can simplify every decision in my life so easily, though it would be nice.