[Surprised] Conviction

Originally uploaded by Sethicus.

A new element had entered my life: Vulgarity. Up till now I had committed nearly every other sin and folly within my power, but I had not yet been flashy.

Yeah... that was a stabbing conviction right there. While reading this chapter I realized, for the first time, just how little I desire to be the "flashy" person I have become since I began working at FocalPoint. I have lost focus of what it means to live a lifestyle of simplicity and virtue, and this I blame largely on the example set for me by my bosses. In comparing myself to them, I find that I am relatively modest and temperate. In comparing myself to the standard of modesty and virtue to which I aspire, I find that I am excessively indulgent and frequently prone to gluttony of material things.

So now that I've voiced my conviction, I face the age-old dilemma: What am I going to do about it? Well... that is a good question. I can't simply abandon all traces of flashiness (I do, after all, drive a BMW), but I believe that I can work on changing my habit of exhibiting and emphasizing the 'vulgarity' in my life. I don't know what effect that will have, but I am hoping it will be a significant and positive one.

On a final note, this document is something I wrote after reading Marcus Aurelius' Meditations in my Freshman year. It's a Statement of Character enumerating the goals I had for my life. I have achieved some of them and failed miserably at others, but I lay them out as a list of the traits which I desire to exhibit.