It is a great thing to know our vices.
Cicero (106 BC – 43 BC)
For those of you of have ever struggled with a vice, you know that the grip can be as strong as an anchor at the bottom of the sea. It can render you immobile, keep you struggling and it can drown you. There is no grey area. It encourages us to fight or to give in. It tempts us and taunts us and threatens to be perfect. It makes false promises and gives us hope of temporary courage. It lets us see what we want to see. The mirror mirror on the wall and who’s the fairest of them all?
It has been my experience that folks who have no vices have very few virtues.
Abraham Lincoln
Not having the gift of mortality lends itself to a sense of getting it right, right now. There is integrity in the honesty. Their is hope in the fortitude of the approach. Your moral fiber isn’t covered in sin. You just branded yourself a survivor so you could overcome the memories. You buried your thought process behind the misguided representation of a life left behind. You did what you had to do to face the day.
He has all of the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.
Sir Winston Churchill
Whatever habits you picked up along the way, you did it because you needed someone or something you didn’t know how to ask for. Or you thought your prayers went unanswered or the strife of time became too much for you and you couldn’t hold on. It alludes to the fact (whether you want to admit it or not) that you are human and deep down below the surface you are ready to release the hold.
Our greatest virtue will always be the art of humility. It is in weakness that there can be strength. It is in bewilderment that there can be courage. It is in admission that there can be freedom. When released from the clutch of your internal story, you realize things will inevitably be different.
You won’t need recognition. You will trust that your honor holds great promise. You will settle in to being who you were meant to be and you won’t be afraid to see who that is.
What are you holding on to?
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15900cookie-checkRelease the Hold