Education
Of course when the shit hits the fan and your life is in the toilet it’s not so easy to Make Your Day a Work of Art. To hell with that Max Panzer and his stinking, idealistic “Work of Art” posts. Sometimes I say the same thing to myself. What the hell was I thinking? That’s just an ideal. It doesn’t apply for when life gets really nasty and serious. But it does indeed Gentlemen. Let’s define “Work of Art.” When things get nasty, when they get extremely difficult or even ugly, there is still a best way to conduct yourself. Even if you’re not exactly sure what to do or what the best response is, you can still endeavor to do what you believe to be right. If you Center yourself and drop down to your Core Values, search your Soul and then proceed from that point, there’s not much more the Creator could ask. And that gentlemen is a Work of Art. To struggle for the right answer or best way to proceed in the midst of extreme difficulty is Noble and Virtuous. Irrespective of your bad feelings at the time, conducting yourself with courage and good character is a beautiful thing. We are on this earth to face challenges and face them we will. This is simply part of the Creator’s natural order. As I always say, we live in a broken world and it has a lot of moving parts, competing interests and extremely fallible human beings. To say nothing about some of the pure evil that’s out there. So in the midst of all this chaos, sometimes all you can do is all you can do; even if it seems worthless and without meaning at the time. This is simply what men do. Principle An advantage you can give yourself in preparation for difficult times is to set your core principles for life ahead of time. And if you’re unprepared, confused and currently getting hammered, take a step back and do the same. It’s never too late. Of course, being prepared beforehand might help you to alleviate the situation with less complication and gnashing of teeth. So take the time to set your standards. It will pay dividends many times over. Part of the battle is simply defining what behaviors you will not engage in. And what characteristics you do not wish to incorporate into your character. Most of these are probably what I would label as Shallow Distractions. But some of them, to state the obvious, would be purely immoral behavior. Avoiding what you know to be wrong and not doing things that will make you weak, will put you on good footing if things should get difficult. The other half of the battle is living your defined principles each and every day. Make it a habit. Make it instinct. Doing so will give you the courage of your convictions and place you on a solid foundation as an automatic response. There’s something to be said for a clear conscience. There will be no self-defeating holes in your armor. And you will indeed have the legitimate courage of your beliefs and principles when confusion and torment begin to rain down. A man with a clear conscience can stand tall and stand defiant. If you were to make the pursuit of Virtue your number one principle for life, you couldn’t do much better in my opinion. Virtue will pretty much cover all the good stuff and eliminate all the bad stuff. For me there’s Soft Virtue and Hard Virtue. Examples of Soft Virtue: compassion, empathy, courtesy, consideration, faith, faithfulness, order & cleanliness. Examples of Hard Virtue: honor, loyalty, discipline, honesty, courage, fitness, preparation, competency, dynamism, self-denial & sobriety. Work to become all of these Virtues. It is my belief they are all pre-programmed into your DNA with divine intention. Manifest this intensional design and you will never regret it. Make your core principle the pursuit of Virtue and you will indeed paint yourself an artful life. Righteous Defiance Sometimes there is no best answer or any answer at all. There are some things for which there is a point of no return.