The Greatest Goal

Daily Meditation — 3/31/2022

The greatest aspiration for all people should be to live virtuously. Always.

In words it sounds so easy — “just be good...”
Simple!

But in practice, there are all manner of obstacles.

Your history.
Your fears.
Your motivations.
Physical limitations.
Your proclivities.

You exclaim you are honest and desire to tell the truth but then when you are faced by an inconvenient fact that goes against your beliefs, you reject it, unwilling to be open.

You say you want to improve yourself physically by eating well and moving more, but then you abuse alcohol.

You project yourself to be charitable, but when the offering plate comes your way, you only add pennies, insisting this is what you can spare… despite indulging in boutique coffee, sweets and order out foods all week.

Being virtuous is the steepest mountain, the hardest equation because you— fears, motivations, and your choice sins — are part of the equation.

It is an equation that you can solve portions of… but not the whole, and you never will…

None of us will.

Rise early. Eat well. Move more. Share what you can. Be kind but honest. Be accountable. Work hard. Be open. Invest wisely. Read more. Be entertained less. Love more. Be fair. Be grateful.

But in all these modes of striving for virtue, make your primary aim to just be a bit better than you were yesterday!

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These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”