Right Thing, Right Now

“You could be good today,” Marcus Aurelius reminded himself, quite possibly as he was deliberating on some similarly controversial decision. “Instead you choose tomorrow.”

κοινωνικαί

While discretion moderates bravery and pleasure provides us relief from excessive self-control, the ancients would point out that there is no virtue to counterbalance justice.

It probably says something about our world today, however, that when people hear the word “justice,” their first thought is not of decency or duty but of the legal system.

Loyalty is something we give. It’s not something we expect. Nor is it something we ought to expect to always be understood. We do it because it’s right.

One aim: to help you choose… Courage, bravery, endurance, fortitude, honor, sacrifice… Temperance, self-control, moderation, composure, balance… Justice, fairness, service, fellowship, goodness, kindness… Wisdom, knowledge, education, truth, self-reflection, peace…

What is surprising, or rather, disappointing, is to find out that you did it for the wrong reasons. That you were more self-involved than selfless. That it didn’t come from a place of strength and generosity but of insecurity or thirst.

While we cannot change the past, we can—by refusing to deny it—do better in the future. In so doing, we begin to make amends for what has happened.

How we treat people in ordinary circumstances is one thing. How we treat them when we’re tired, when we’re stressed, when the weight of the world is on our shoulders…when someone has just screwed up, just cost us something serious. This says so much.