Virtues and Vices

As the year turns, people's thoughts often turn to adoption of new habits, usually more virtuous ones, or even eliminating some vices from one's daily life.  My sense is that life is better lived in the positive than in the negative--favoring the adoption of new habits over the elimination of some old ones.  It can get tricky.  Some new habits give away in their description their true identity as elimination of vices.  In its simplest form, consider this--One person vows to "quit smoking," ostensibly just a promise to cease a bad habit or vice.  Another decides to adopt a "smoke-free" lifestyle.  Sounds positive, but it is just turning the first statement inside-out.  

Often enough, people look at what is missing from their lives and try to incorporate some in the coming year (or months, weeks or days, depending upon the strength of one's resolve).  Once more, however, this sounds to me more like a complaint turned inside-out.  "Incorporating more moderation into one's life" is really just a way of twisting "I wish I didn't eat so much that I feel lousy the next several days" into a positive statement.  The latter is the personal cliff that a lot of us face in the daylight hours of a holiday like New Year's Eve (Congress is not the only party facing a cliff).  Should I try to be more virtuous today in advance of next year's resolve, or should I have one last fling tonight?  Will I avoid the need to resort to some pain relief or indigestion relief medications at the dawn of this New Year?   

One of my favorite curmudgeons, H L Mencken, said the true aim of medicine is not to make men virtuous, but to safeguard men from the consequences of their vices.  In terms of New Year's Eve excesses, I think he was right on the money.  But I'm not here just trying to talk myself out of overdoing it tonight, I'm thinking more about how to deal with resolutions for the coming year.  

I inadvertently stumbled on my first one by making a choice some months prior to the election.  I swore off listening to political talk, to the extent I could control my environment, and I was happier for it.  Less listening to the constant cries of both sides and the name -calling that went with it made more room in my life for music.  So one resolution for me is to continue the trend of adding more music to my life.  You might accuse me of twisting a dislike for what passes for political discourse today into a resolution, but I don't think it is.  I want to try looking at what I like in my life, and trying to get a little more of it.  (Number one) Resolved--more music.  

I have visited with lots of friends recently, including virtual visits via email and telephone and in-person stops with people face-to-face--some who had been part of my life many years ago, some who have been part of my life for a long time, and even one or two who have moved away.  I am reminded of how important friendship can be, especially attempting to stay in touch with ones who recently moved away and reconnecting with people I knew years ago.  I hate to take for granted all those who have been and remain connected to me, but the ones that you keep in touch with when they move on--either temporarily or permanently seem to make the importance of their friendship stand out.  What you almost lose becomes a bit more precious.  Similarly, those you reconnect with remind you of what you once lost and have now regained.  I could have shortened this one up by just saying it in the first place.  (Number two) Resolved--more friendship.

Something this little blog has taught me is how much I enjoy just writing.  Obvious, I guess, but it does take some effort and resolve to make more of it in my life.  (Number three) Resolved--more writing.  I could go on, but I have a few other things to attend to, so I think I'll just throw out a couple I had in mind when I started this little note--More hugs and more breathing it all in every single day.  More hugs doesn't require much explanation, does it?  Breathing it all in is just another way of saying I want to be present all the time, soaking in the gift that is each day of my life.  Adding those two makes a handful.  Good enough for me--More music, more friendship, more writing, more hugs and more just breathing it all in.  Have a Happy New Year, with more of what you love in it.