Virtues....what are those anyways?

    Virtues are the moral excellence of a person and the basic qualities for our well being and happiness! We've all heard the saying, "Patience is a virtue," but what about the rest of the virtues? Where have they gone? A few years ago I began a journal with Tegan and Tylar that morphed into a small daily guide highlighting virtues to live your life by. It has been a while since we dusted it off and read it. During these uncertain times, I thought now might just the right time to be reminded of life's basic tools for survival. 

    According to Socrates, virtue is knowledge. I absolutely do not want to get philosophical with you this morning but Socrates believed all living things aim for their perceived good; therefore if anyone does not know what good is, he cannot do what is good -- because he will always aim for a mistaken target; but if someone knows what is good, he will do what is good, because he will aim for what is good. Hmmmm..

    Anyone get the feeling that if this is true, one of two things have happened in today's society. 1.) People have no idea what good is any more or 2.) Their perception of what good is has been completely skewed. So maybe we need to start more basic. What is the definition of good? 

    When I got on the Google this morning looking for the definition of "good," there was a long list of meanings because good can be used as a noun, adjective, or adverb. However on Psychology Today, author Steve Taylor's article "The Real Meaning of Good and Evil" defines good as a lack of self-centeredness. He also cites it as having the ability to empathize with other people, to feel compassion for them, and to put their needs before your own. It goes on to say it means, if necessary, sacrificing your own well-being for the sake of others. WHOA!!! Now let's think about how many "GOOD" people we know. 

    So let's wrap this up with a nice little bow...Virtues are basic qualities for our well being and happiness, virtue is knowledge, and knowledge gives you the ability to know what good is. It seems to be evident why there are so many illnesses and unhappy people in the world. We seem to have all forgotten the definition of what good is.  

Be Good--

       Richard Zerth 

p.s. I know my dad wasn't good 100% of the time, nor am I. But I have a target...and I am aiming.