7 Deadly Sins
Recently I have come face to face with the 7 deadly sins, also known as my 7 deadly character defects: Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Anger, Greed, and Sloth. Some have been more glaring than others. Pride and anger are the culprits dogging my every step of late — I go to sleep with them and wake up with them. Hard as I try to shake them, they cling like shadows.
It got me thinking about making a greater effort to shift my focus to their “virtuous counterparts:” Humility, Abstinence, Purity, Kindness, Generosity, Forgiveness, and Diligence. When I feel myself letting pride dictate my reactions, I try shifting to thoughts of humility as a preferred response.
Quite honestly, I don’t really ‘prefer’ to be humble, but I know humility will do me a great deal less harm than pride. When I feel anger hijacking my brain, I try to remind myself how patience and forgiveness could better quiet my stormy thinking.
What this program has taught me is that my character defects don’t serve me well at all. If I want peace and serenity, I have to learn to like the virtuous counterparts better than the defects. That is not as easy as I just made it sound, but well worth the effort. Please share what defects have been giving you problems lately and how you can replace them with their virtuous alternatives .