October 23rd, 2021
People aren’t in awe of your sharp mind? So be it. But you have many other qualities you can’t claim to have been deprived of at birth. Display then those qualities in your own power: honesty, dignity, endurance, chastity, contentment, frugality, kindness, freedom, persistence, avoiding gossip, and magnanimity.
Today's reading was a lesson in humility of sorts. Who doesn't want to be the best at a particular task.
Having a competitive spirit and growing old, I have come to realize, I will not be faster, smarter, better looking then everyone. In all honesty, growing older has removed most of my confidence. Perhaps you could argue I was over confident as a young man. That same confidence no longer exists.
It is a great comfort to read today's lesson and realize that even though my natural gifts may be lacking, I still have the ability to build on simple traits that make me a good person.
I can choose to be honest. It is my choice to be dignified, to endure, to be happy. It is my decision to be thrifty, to be kind to everyone around me, and to be chase.
The books writers point out that these traits "are the result of effort and skill" and should be more impressive to those who know me.