Salam Aleykom,
Mashallah, this is a beautiful topic. Alhamdullilah that you brothers and sisters lead a balanced muslim way of life. Religion is not a difficult, burdensome thing. One of the purposes of religion is to bring ease into the lives of its followers. Here are some paragraphs I copied from this website:
http://www.nabulsi1.com/text/english...oderation.html
In Islam Moderation means excellence, goodness, and distinction in both spiritual and material matters. The best bead of a necklace is the middle one; the chief of a people is always in the middle with the followers around him. Concerning spiritual matters, Moderation is better than extremism; and it has been rightly said: “the best thing is the middle” and “virtue is in the middle between two vices”. In explanation of Allah’s Words Ibn Katheer said, “Thus, we have made you a moderate nation”, the word Moderate here means better and more perfect, as it is said: ‘Quraish is the most moderate ancestry among the Arabs’, which means the best.
The Prophet (Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) was in the middle among his people, i.e. the noblest one among them. Also, the middle prayer is the best prayer.
Islam has intellectual, spiritual, and behavioral aspects. When one of these aspects grows extraordinarily, usually at the expense of other aspects, then the result will be Extremism. But when these three aspects grow naturally and equally, in such a way that no one aspect dominates the others, then Excellence will be the result. We look forward to excellence not to extremism.
Moderation also represents safety and keeping away from danger, as edges and ends are usually exposed to danger and corruption, contrary to the middle which is protected and preserved by the things around it. Moderation is security and stability, but extremism is excessiveness, deviation, and corruption.
Jazakum Allah Khair
Walaykum As Salam.