Define and Conquer
Or- Words have meaning
Think.
Last week, I talked about the idea of establishing values to serve as handrails. This is my take on Aristotle’s Golden Mean, which essentially says that each virtue can become a vice if taken in the wrong proportions.
Courage is awesome, but too little is cowardice, and too much is recklessness.
Once you have decided on the virtues that will comprise your ethos, it is important to define them and establish the handrails to establish the left and right limits within which you will travel. These will keep you on your path.
Clear handrails make it easy to know the right thing to do in most situations, although that doesn’t mean the right thing is always easy to do.
The value of clearly defined boundaries is that they will make run-of-the-mill ethical decisions automatic over time. Like how you probably don’t think about keeping your car in its lane most of the time. This allows us to conserve our moral fortitude for conquering the less common, trickier situations that demand our full attention.
Read. Cosmographia
by M.E. Rothwell Because volcanos are bad ass.
Write.
Using the list of the virtues that comprise your personal ethos, write down what the virtue looks like in its ideal standard or golden mean, then define the vice that comes from too little and too much.
Let me know how it goes.
Repeat.
Words of wisdom from those who said it best.
It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.
Oh, By the way. I now have a YouTube Channel where I post a Sunday morning Ruck Rant that you might enjoy. Check it out here:
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See you next Thursday!
This reminds me of the Diogenes story with Alexander the Great where he replied "I have conquered the need to conquer the world.” I have lots of work still to do.