I haven't read the book, Telemark, but I imagine it's a tough balance. If you were making all the sacrifices as a NG and losing yourself in the process, that's not a good thing. I think we all need to make sacrifices in our M to make it work from time to time. There are legitimate compromises. It comes with working as a team. So don't beat yourself up too much. I think it can be a problem when the pendulum swings too far one way or the other, so to speak. I think in my experience, I've swung the pendulum from one side to the other in our M, and it doesn't appear either worked that well.
BTW, we handed out a book called The Rhythm of Life to the juvenile detainees, and someone wanted me to have a copy. It's an interesting read.
