Celebrate Virtue (moral, Earth, tradition, contradiction, beliefs)

[Darkdale]

I am continually perplexed by the fact that we humans look the worst we are capable of as what defines us, but ignore our best features. Goodness isn’t easily remembered, appreciated, or honored. We practice a national religion of outrage and despair, in a culture of helplessness and fear. Idols and role models have disappeared and become stars, which are nothing more than men and women that are living the fantasy life most people wish they could live. That is all Hollywood is, after all. And so we worship false gods and obsess over evil. Goodness isn’t praised and virtue isn’t honored.

Obsessing over iniquity isn’t difficult to do. Just turn on the television, watch the news, or go see a movie. If you put your faith in your television or your paper of record, then you know in your heart that the world is evil, that people are evil, and that there is no hope. But if you take the time to reflect on reality, objectively, you will recognize that there is much more good than evil and that life has been slowly getting getter for hundreds of years. People are living longer, people are living better, pollution is decreasing, crime is less of a worry, there is less war, and there is more opportunity.

Life is good and people can be good, but people need to be reminded about what goodness is and why it is good. People need to celebrate goodness and virtue. This is something each of us can do everyday. If we are mindful of virtue and of the decent things people do for each other, we can foster them and encourage them. We are not helpless and every day is an opportunity for us to make small improvements, to celebrate virtue.

Click here to read a small essay on The Nine Noble Virtues for Kids: http://www.friggasweb.org/nvirtues.html, these are the lessons and virtues that heathens try to foster in their children. The following is my own take on the subject of virtue.

Celebrate Courage

Courage may be the most important virtue for humans to foster and celebrate, because it is the virtue that makes all other virtues possible. Without courage, you are a victim of fear. You can’t stand up for what you believe is right and you can’t defend yourself against vice. Courage is the in the will and it makes us free, it is what gives us the feeling of free will. Every day we are faced with obstacles and challenged that can either be confronted and overcome, or we can fold an become the slaves of our own anxiety and weakness. Courage is a choice and therefore requires the freedom to choose; and while our will is constrained by our limitations, we have enough liberty to decide to be courageous or to give into fear. In fact, that choice is what defines our character. That choice is what enables or disables us in the face of obstacles. Courage is a fundamental virtue and we see it every day, if not in our own lives, then in the lives of others. Think of our soldiers, our firemen, our policemen, and our saints. Think of the people that risk their lives for what they believe is right and good.

Celebrate Truth

Truth is a virtue. It is an act of recognition and honesty. To be honest with others we must first be honest with ourselves, and this is more difficult than most people understand. Each one of us is biased. We have a worldview through which we interpret our experience, expect outcomes, and understand their effects. Truth requires us to pay homage to the laws of logic, and when a conclusion fails to be effective we must look for the contradictions in our premises. We must be open to the reality that we are wrong and biased, and avoid deluding ourselves in the preservation of our own expectations and beliefs. Dogma and tradition can be beautiful things passed down from generation to generation, but they must not be allowed to stand in contradiction to our own experience, and we must be willing to set them aside when reality contradicts them.

Celebrate Honor

Honor is a kind of respect. It requires us to set standards of righteousness for ourselves and others, and a commitment to following and fostering those standards. It is a kind of respect for what is good and right and noble. It is a respect for the liberty and dignity of yourself and others. Honor is an effect of valuing yourself and others, and then treating yourself and others in a manner that celebrates what is valuable and excellent. Honor is strengthened by courage and love, and it is an expression of our character.

Celebrate Fidelity

Because we love and value our family and friends, and because we honor them, it is only right that we practice fidelity toward them. Fidelity simply means loyalty. It means honoring our moral, emotional, and intellectual commitments, and not betraying them when threatened with pain, peer pressure, or discomfort. This requires courage and is an act of honor. When your friends and family are there for you, and they honor you with their loyalty, show them love and gratitude, because their fidelity is the result of their valuing you.

Celebrate Discipline

This is a virtue that I fail to foster in my own life, and it is an unforgivable weakness. I am undisciplined and so I often fail to pursue what I value in the manner that I should. I do things “half assed”, or try to do “just enough” to get by. My lack of discipline is an insult to the things that I value, because it says that I lack the courage to act as though what I value is valuable. If I really cared about something, I would never pursue it half assed. If I really value something, I wouldn’t want just enough of it to make it appear real. Discipline is the act of making your virtues real and it requires you to pour yourself into everything that you do. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Quite right.

Celebrate Hospitality

Human association is important and too often we fail to treat each other as if we are valuable. Hospitality is our way of showing people that they are valuable to us. Most Americans are good little consumers and when they by something nice they treat it accordingly, but yet when their friends or family come into their home they are often neglected. Could it be that we value objects more than we value our own kith and kin? If that is true, can you think of anything more embarrassing? Hospitality is not only the honoring of your guests, but it is also paying respect to your host when you are their guest. Being a good guest is simple. Be polite. Be gracious. Be respectful. When people come into your hearth, make them feel at home. Honor them as best you can. If you are poor like me, it may seem hard to do, but it’s not. Do what you can.

Celebrate Industriousness

My grandfather as told me, oh maybe 3,245 times, that “there is nothing without work.” He is also the most industrious man I’ve ever known. Industriousness comes from discipline, so you can problem guess that this is another virtue that I have failed and is therefore another weakness which plagues me every day. It is important to know that it is not only vice that makes you suffer. Simply lacking a virtue will hurt you and those you love. Anything worth having is worth working for. I am not preaching to you, I need to hear this too.

Celebrate Self-Reliance

“Self-reliance is the only road to true freedom, and being one's own person is its ultimate reward”- Patricia Sampson.

"Nothing at last is sacred but the integrity of your own mind." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Self-Reliance is the bane of the modern world. We are taught interdependence. We are taught that self-reliance is selfish and anti-social. But Self-Reliance is neither of those things. Self-Reliance is the act of taking responsibility for yourself and for the consequences of your own actions. Each of us are free to do as we choose, but it is a weak and foolish person that will not stand up and accept the consequences of their actions. Dependence isn’t only harmful to yourself, but it can be harmful to the people you depend upon. Be your own man or woman. Show appreciation for the self-reliance of others, compliment them on their accomplishments, and praise their successes.

Celebrate Perseverance

Again, perseverance requires courage and discipline. Anything worth doing is worth doing all the way. When I think of Perseverance, I think of the civil rights movement. I think of all those brave souls that marched for their rights, that suffered through the violence and bigotry of their time, to finally achieve their equal rights and independence. I marvel at those with the courage to suffer incredible indignities to achieve that they know is right. I think of the stories that came out of those concentration camps in Nazi Germany, and of the people that survived them, many of whom persevered in spirit too. They kept up their hope and the hopes of others. They survived unbelievable acts of insanity and cruelty. Perseverance is a kind of greatness. Perseverance is the determination of the soul.

[Cerrax]

(Excellent post but I have to play devil's advocate here)

1000 "nice job"s are wiped out by 1 "OH $H1T!" Its just how we improve. Saying, "Yeah thats good enough" is what keeps us from striving to be better.