After
completing Ben’s Quiz, my results indicated that I needed to work on Temperance
and Resolution, neither, of which were a surprise to me. Though the quiz did not give the results for
those virtues I scored well on, I would say that one of them would have been Industry. Given these three virtues I have a good sense
of what I do well and what I need to improve on.
In
LaFollette’s (2007) book he references Aristotle’s view of what a virtuous
person must: do the appropriate action, do it habitually, enjoy acting
virtuously, know that it is virtuous and know why it is virtuous (p. 213). Given this criterion I feel my virtuous
strength in industry, which pbs.org described as “lose no time, be always
employed in something useful, cut off all unnecessary actions”. I tend to be a very organized person, I can
envision my kid’s daily and weekly schedules in my head and rarely forget an
appointment or activity. I like to stay
as busy as possible as a little downtime turns into hours, if I stay in motion
I am more likely to accomplish what needs to be done. I am also a list maker and create one almost
every morning, I like to see exactly what needs to be done and feel a great
sense of success when I can cross something off the list. I sometimes take this virtue to the extreme
leaving me with a plate full of tasks and little time, but somehow I always
manage to complete everything. I am also
a huge believer that when a person says they are going to do something they
should do it. I understand that things
can arise and time can slip away but in the end someone is counting on you to
finish the project and it would be a disappointment if you didn’t.
One of the
areas my quiz found I needed to work on is resolution, which pbs.org (n.d.)
described as “resolve to preform what you ought, preform without fail what you
resolve”. While I am not arguing this
fact, I feel that some of the reasons I am not always able to follow through
are out of my control. I have recently
made resolutions to eat better and get back into running, after taking almost
eight years off to have four more kids.
This is a great plan in theory, and one that I would love to see through
to fruition, however my children often have other ideas. This is where my virtue of industry is my
downfall. I tend to put others before
myself which makes following through on things for me difficult. I need to find ways to say no to others in
order to help myself, which will make me more able to help in the long
run.
I have struggled
with temperance all my life, the idea of not using something external to numb
one’s self internally. While I am not an
alcoholic, I have used alcohol to escape reality on many occasions. I grew up with a very cold and demanding
mother, who asked for nothing less than perfection from me and made it very
clear when I had not lived up to her expectation. I spent most of my childhood assuming this
was “normal” behavior from mothers, and it wasn’t until my high school years
that I realized it was far from normal.
Between this type of upbringing and an assault I endured during high
school at the hand of a “friend” I spent a lot of time attempting to dull my
pain. Alcohol was usually my first
choice and method to dull the pain, food was a close second and I alternated
between over eating and not eating at all.
After a while I came to the realization that my experiences were not
normal nor were they healthy and made the huge decision, with the help of a
therapist, to break away from my mother.
This was a tough decision but one that needed to happen, and it was the
best decisions I have made in that it probably saved my life. I still struggle with appropriate ways to
cope, however I have things under control and the idea of bingeing no longer
enters my mind. It has been a long road
but one that has made me stronger.
It seems that
most people want to live their lives with virtue but struggle with internal
demons that may inhibit their behavior.
It was my battle with my demons that led me to where I am today and I am
thankful for it. I now have five kids
who look up to me and everyday I am under their spotlight, I know I want them
to grow up acting a virtuous as they can so I try to emulate that as often as
possible. One must live a virtuous life
out of their own needs and desires not because someone else wants them to, it
must be a personal decision.
LaFollette, H. (2007). The Practice of
Ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, Ltd.
(n.d.). Retrieved July 11, 2016, from
http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/pop_virtues_list.html
No comments:
Post a Comment