Virtue Quest

So, of all the various self-improvement possibilities, why did I choose the ancient path of virtue?

Good question.

The answer is, it seems to be the best description of my own experience – both of myself and of the world around me. Here, I’ll give an example.

An Example
I have a problem with food: if it’s in front of me, it ends up in my belly in short order. Doesn’t matter much what kind of food it is. Even if it’s something I just hate, if it sits in front of me for more than a minute and a half my hand will reach out and I’ll probably get it halfway to my mouth before I remember just how much it disgusts me. I’m literally not thinking about it at all.

So, how do I deal with this kind of mostly involuntary problem?

What Didn’t Work
Moral systems don’t do much good. I just end up self-flagellating over my worthlessness as a human being. And the truth is, it’s not really a moral act.

Psychological and psychiatric systems only cover part of the issue. Sure, something is going on in my neurochemistry, but that’s not something I can manipulate with precision. Sure, something is going on with my conflicting desires and thought patterns and what not, but just knowing what’s going on does very little to change my life.

Why Virtue Works
But virtue, well, there’s a simple description both of what the problem is and of how to solve it. It has to do with habits. The problem is that, over time, I have built up a habit of stuffing my face. The solution is not only to stop stuffing my face, but to start treating food as it’s meant to be treated. And, over time, build up a new habit of eating normally.

What do I mean, “as it’s meant to be treated”? Well, this is the other thing about virtue that really works for me. Virtue is all about acting according to the order of a thing’s nature. So, as a human being, I thrive best when I act according to human nature. My hand works best when it manipulates things.  My eyes work best when exposed to the visible spectrum of light.

And my whole body, especially my digestive system, works best when it has the right amount of the right kinds of food.

Simple, right? Absolutely. But easy? Not at all.

And, again, virtue acknowledges the difficulty of developing new, better habits to overcome old, bad habits. No quick fixes, no “cures”. Instead, a refreshingly realistic assessment of where I’m at and the struggles that lie ahead. It’s good to know I’m not a misfit or a moral moron simply because I find it difficult to do the good thing.

There’s more to it than that, and I’ll explain more as I go. If you want to follow my progress, or – even better – to grow in virtue yourself, please join the Quest! Together, we can help each other become the people we’re meant to become!

I don’t know about you, but for me the biggest hurdle to any task is taking the first step. It means work. It means sacrificing some freedom or pleasure. It means change. So here I am, at the beginning of developing virtue in my life, and I’m shaking in my socks.

Am I really going to change my life?

Will it really be for the better?

At this point, I usually make the wrong move. I stop and try to answer those two questions. I worry about whether I’ll be able to stick to my committment, or whether I’ll give up when the going gets tough – like I have so often in the past.

Or I sit around trying to figure what the odds are of the change really being worthwhile. I stare into the future with more intensity than any poker player staring at an opponent’s hand – but with much less insight.

The thing to do is simply to do something.

Anything at all. I just need to get off my buttocks and act. So for me the first step on this road to virtue is hitting the keys and putting out this blog.

Maybe for you it’ll be something different. Maybe it’ll be picking up that pair of pants you threw in the corner last night. Or perhaps it’ll be to pick up the phone and call your mom. Or it might be to drive over to the gym tonight after dinner.

In any case, do something. Something is always better than nothing. Something is a real start.

Otherwise, the questions will simply answer themselves.

One of the original Christians, Paul of Tarsus, issued a complaint that rings true for me today:

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (Romans 8.15 – for whomever wants to look it up)

For myself, I find I spend way too much of my time watching TV, or sleeping, or playing computer games, or even reading blogs. And when I do these things, half the time I’m not even enjoying it; instead, I’m thinking, I really should be doing something else – writing or cleaning the house or exercising…

I realize that I’m really running away from what I can do, what I really want at a deep level. I want a clean house. I want a healthier body. That’s when I feel good. And yet, I’m afraid … of what? I think it’s just of the difficulty. I’m afraid of losing out on something.

Except, by wasting my time on nonsense, I really am losing out on the life I could be living.

So I’m trying to stop doing what I don’t want. And that’s easy, in the short term. But in the long term, if I gave up reading blogs (for example), it would just leave a gap in my life. I can’t stop reading blogs without finding something else to fill the time – something that might end up being TV!

The only way to stop doing what I don’t want is to start doing what I do want instead. In other words, the way to overcome vice is to practice virtue.

Easier said than done, I know. So I’m going to share my efforts and my experience in pursuing virtue with you. Please join me: it’s easier to improve together than it is alone. And please share your own experiences in the comments. I’m no expert. I’m just hoping to learn something and share whatever it is I learn.

I have not lived as bad a life as I could have, but that’s nothing to boast about. Maybe I haven’t done tremendous harm to myself or to others — not that I know of, anyway — but I’ve committed countless minor offenses, innumerable nicks and scratches at the world around me. And, moreover, toward myself.

And this is the crux of the matter: I want to be a better person. I don’t want more people to like me, or to get more money, or to wield political power. I just want to be … more myself; the guy I could have been if only I’d made better decisions with my life.

And I don’t think I’m alone in this. I think there are plenty of people who want to stop making bad decisions and start making better ones. I think you want to learn to make better decisions with your life.

The way I’m planning to change is to start following the ancient path of virtue. Prudence, Justice, Fortitude (aka Courage), and Temperance. These will be my guide and my goal as I start trying to live the life I know I could live — if I only took the time and effort.

If you want to change your life for the better, please join the quest here. I hope that my journey will help you, and that I can learn from your experiences.