Shooting For Something Higher Than Happiness

We can shoot for something higher than happiness. We have a chance to take advantage of every day occasions to build virtue in ourselves and be of service to the world. - David Brooks, The Road To Character

I stumbled upon this book in Barnes and Noble a couple of years ago when I was going through severe disillusionment with religion and many modern day institutions. I was at a point in my life where I had a moral vocabulary but was uncertain of how to apply it in today’s world. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into when I picked up this book, if I did I most likely would not have purchased it. But as I began reading the book I realized that the challenges I had faced were no excuse to not keep forging ahead in the development of my own character. I feel like this book has helped to equip me with some tools and ideas for how to translate the importance of personal character, values and a deep core even for those who don’t consider themselves to be religious or spiritual. The stories have reinvigorated and reminded me of the value that is found in the struggle.

Such people forgot that often it is just such an exceptionally difficult external situation which gives man the opportunity to grow spiritually beyond himself. - Victor Frankl, Man’s Search For Meaning

These days it has become popular to point to the flaws in everyone except ourselves. Modern dating apps let us pick and choose from a buffet of interesting individuals. If we don’t like what we experience then we get a fresh plate and go back for something more exciting! These ideas have begun to seep into our other relationships. We surround ourself with people who are like-minded and don’t inconvenience ourselves with those who might challenge or disagree with us. All this tip-toeing around has left us spending more time trying to conceal our flaws than combat them. We don’t realize that a recognition of weakness, reveals a new opportunity for strength.

Crisis doesn’t necessarily make character but it certainly does reveal it. Adversity is a crossroads that makes a person choose one of two paths: character or compromise. - John C. Maxwell, The 21 Indispensable Qualities Of A Leader

The about page states that the book looks to some of the world’s greatest thinkers and inspiring leaders, how through internal struggle and a sense of their own limitations they built strong inner character. The book was written in 2015 but with what our nation is currently facing, now seems the perfect time to revisit it.

Leadership is the capacity and will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence. - Bernard Montgomery, British Field Marshal

When was that last time that you and your friends, co-workers, etc. discussed personal character? How often do we invite people and obstacles into our lives to push us towards personal growth? The individuals in this book faced incredible challenges, but it seems to me that they didn’t let themselves off of the hook because of inferior family or financial situations. So listen to what people around you are saying, or what they are not saying. What have you been trying to escape or distract yourself from that could actually strengthen your core?

We don’t get to pick our talents or IQ. But we do choose our character. In fact, we create it every time we make choices- to cop out or dig out of a hard situation, to bend the truth or stand under the weight of it, to take the easy money or to pay the price. As you live your life and make choices today, you are continuing to create your character. - John C. Maxwell, The 21 Indispensable Qualities Of A Leader

About the author of The Road To Character, David Brooks is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times, as well as appears regularly on PBS NewsHour and Meet the Press.

The Value Of Personal Transformation

How do we call out the best in another? How do we embolden them with courage to face inconvenient truths which require personal transformation. How do we raise the honor given to those willing to do the hard work of soul building? To acknowledge not just the pursuit of financial success but to recognize the value of those who have failed yet continue to seek change in their lives. Those who choose to bring their failure into the light instead of walking as mere shadows masked by self-deception. The work of the soul does not happen at our convenience rather it tends to provide us with opportunity at the most inopportune times. You know when you feel most stretched financially, physically or emotionally. When it feels like more things are going wrong then are going right. Just like an athlete is brought to the brink to test their endurance. When we are pushed to the point of straining that is when our true mettle is revealed. When we finally reach out in humble recognition that we can no longer do this thing called life alone and that if we are to become the best version of ourselves we need the mighty help of another.

Usually we are brought to a breaking point, a crisis, an exact moment where we would prefer to pull back, to hide within - it's at our weakest, our least beautiful that we fear rejection if people were to finally see the fraud we see ourselves as. Our self-hate can become overwhelming. We need another to lift our face to look into our eyes and to say YOU ARE ENOUGH and YOU ARE LOVED more than you could possibly imagine. That love is what is desperately needed for any forward movement - our past has paralyzed us. The easy path led to destruction and now we recognize we are off-course but our perspective has gotten so soupy grey fog filled that we cannot steer ourselves back to what our hearts and souls ache for. We became complacent and settled for something that only now we recognize as inferior to what our soul would truly find delight and happiness in. 

Art By: Amy Judd