As we head straight into the end of January I started thinking.
Thinking about all of those resolutions we set at the start of the New Year.
Having said that, let me say this. There are times when I come upon something that really gets me thinking.
So, for the next two days, we will be blessed to be reading two posts that look at resolutions in a bit of a different way.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I have! Thanks Charmaine for sharing these with me so I could share them with others!
Thinking about all of those resolutions we set at the start of the New Year.
Having said that, let me say this. There are times when I come upon something that really gets me thinking.
So, for the next two days, we will be blessed to be reading two posts that look at resolutions in a bit of a different way.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I have! Thanks Charmaine for sharing these with me so I could share them with others!
It’s resolution time again. Here we go with wild promises to no longer wallow in the mire of the seven deadly sins.
The seven deadly sins? Well, yes. Are we not trying to improve the basics in our life and cease and desist with at least one of the deadly seven: pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony and lust?
When I thought about this annual listing of how I can become better person in 2015, every improvement linked to one of the seven.
I can’t discuss all seven in one post, (that would be sin overload) so I’ll fight the first of my seven sins, sloth, and write a separate post later with thoughts on greed, gluttony, sloth, and lust.
For now, it’s pride, envy and anger.
Pride. When I think of vanity, that stinking ear worm of a song, “You’re So Vain,” begins routing its way through my head.
I am immensely prideful of my children. And maybe to a fault because I can’t help but tell the world that I think they are the best ever. I’m not vain about my children’s accomplishments, just prideful.
A friend recently told me I that I don’t boast enough about things I’ve accomplished. I’m not inordinately humble and certainly miles from sainthood, but, from her perspective, a little more boasting would enhance some of those goals that I can’t quiet reach. In fact, I should scribe, “develop more self-esteem in 2015.” That would enable me to push a stack of manuscripts into something published instead of wasted bytes on my computer.
So, I shall attempt to join the holders of the first and greatest sin, pride. But it’s just to get a few pieces of work into the hands of another to bring that work to life. Maybe it’s not pride that I seek, but more confidence in my skills. A crafty dilemma.
Envy. Sister Mary Patrick assigned my fellow wiggling 3rd grade twits and me to memorize these seven sins, and be prepared to recite them during Catechism the next morning. The nun picked her class pet to first recite the sins. I envied the pretty girl, whose nose pointed upwards most of the time (vanity). Her mother helped at all the school functions and her father was a Knight of Columbus. The principal barred my stepmother from the school and my father – well, I don’t remember my father showing up for much of anything in those days. So, yes, I suffered from envy. I confessed my sin of envy on a regular basis.
Will I try to banish envy in 2015? No. I’m quite okay with myself in these times.
Wait! Is that vanity?
Anger. This a tough one. I’ve gone face to face with my Irish temper so many times that I quit listing that on my annual resolutions list. Fortunately, with age, I don’t have as much energy to put forth toward wrath, so that anger thing fades alongside my once-brown hair. It seems like walking away from pissy circumstances is a better route. High blood pressure from anger is no one’s friend.
Pride, envy and wrath are sins of spirit. They were first delineated during medieval times. How relevant are they in 2015?
I mean, we have unapologetic leaders who simply will not admit fault (pride); a snarky social media fraught with trolls and unqualified critics (envy); and buck wild anarchists and terrorists inflicting vengeful nightmares on You Tube (wrath). Do annual resolutions for personal betterment even pass through the minds of these prideful, envious, and wrathful folks? Will my unimpressive attempt to personally improve make a difference?
Maybe. Maybe not. But we have to start somewhere.
The seven deadly sins? Well, yes. Are we not trying to improve the basics in our life and cease and desist with at least one of the deadly seven: pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony and lust?
When I thought about this annual listing of how I can become better person in 2015, every improvement linked to one of the seven.
I can’t discuss all seven in one post, (that would be sin overload) so I’ll fight the first of my seven sins, sloth, and write a separate post later with thoughts on greed, gluttony, sloth, and lust.
For now, it’s pride, envy and anger.
Pride. When I think of vanity, that stinking ear worm of a song, “You’re So Vain,” begins routing its way through my head.
I am immensely prideful of my children. And maybe to a fault because I can’t help but tell the world that I think they are the best ever. I’m not vain about my children’s accomplishments, just prideful.
A friend recently told me I that I don’t boast enough about things I’ve accomplished. I’m not inordinately humble and certainly miles from sainthood, but, from her perspective, a little more boasting would enhance some of those goals that I can’t quiet reach. In fact, I should scribe, “develop more self-esteem in 2015.” That would enable me to push a stack of manuscripts into something published instead of wasted bytes on my computer.
So, I shall attempt to join the holders of the first and greatest sin, pride. But it’s just to get a few pieces of work into the hands of another to bring that work to life. Maybe it’s not pride that I seek, but more confidence in my skills. A crafty dilemma.
Envy. Sister Mary Patrick assigned my fellow wiggling 3rd grade twits and me to memorize these seven sins, and be prepared to recite them during Catechism the next morning. The nun picked her class pet to first recite the sins. I envied the pretty girl, whose nose pointed upwards most of the time (vanity). Her mother helped at all the school functions and her father was a Knight of Columbus. The principal barred my stepmother from the school and my father – well, I don’t remember my father showing up for much of anything in those days. So, yes, I suffered from envy. I confessed my sin of envy on a regular basis.
Will I try to banish envy in 2015? No. I’m quite okay with myself in these times.
Wait! Is that vanity?
Anger. This a tough one. I’ve gone face to face with my Irish temper so many times that I quit listing that on my annual resolutions list. Fortunately, with age, I don’t have as much energy to put forth toward wrath, so that anger thing fades alongside my once-brown hair. It seems like walking away from pissy circumstances is a better route. High blood pressure from anger is no one’s friend.
Pride, envy and wrath are sins of spirit. They were first delineated during medieval times. How relevant are they in 2015?
I mean, we have unapologetic leaders who simply will not admit fault (pride); a snarky social media fraught with trolls and unqualified critics (envy); and buck wild anarchists and terrorists inflicting vengeful nightmares on You Tube (wrath). Do annual resolutions for personal betterment even pass through the minds of these prideful, envious, and wrathful folks? Will my unimpressive attempt to personally improve make a difference?
Maybe. Maybe not. But we have to start somewhere.