Hello, my fellow Steemians and Steemettes!

Great to have you here for the sequel to my last post. A whole day has passed since the failure I told you about and I can say that after having experienced that day, I am looking at things in a much calmer and clear way. Recently, I was watching the Movie "Infinity Wars" and there was one small exchange right at the beginning of the film that is very much in theme with what I said in another post of mine and can also be applied to what has happened to me.

Loki: I do have a bit of experience in that arena.

Thanos: If you consider failure experience...

Loki: I consider experience, experience.

Loki is right here. Experience is per definition neutral. No good or bad. What we make with these experiences though, that is up to us. Failing is one of the most harsh and effective ways for us to experience things that leave lasting impressions on us which make us learn our lessons. I failed myself yesterday. Big time. But now I am able to learn from that so that I can be a better man starting today. What I want to do in these thread is taking the topic of yesterday and put it into a new, different light.

The Seven Cardinal Virtues!

Most people deal in two extremes. "Good" and "Bad". I personally think that these are at this point pretty archaic and out of fashion. I am also not particularly interested in being either noble nor malicious. Of course, the entire grey area between these two is seeing a lot of exposure these days in all the media, which I consider to be better and more healthy than just seeing two extremes. Yet, I don't want to part with the concept of duality. Almost everything is subject to perspective, one mans pain is the next mans pleasure, one mans trash is the next mans treasure. Same with the sins that I went through yesterday. Doing the things that I did were not evil or malicious by default. They were destructive. Selfdestructive, to be precise. But I do think that these Seven Deadly Sins can be shed in a different light and be used to be not destructive but constructive, furthering oneself in his endeavors.

The Virtue of Pride!

When I talked about Pride as a sin earlier, I said that people who know how to let pride carry them have my deepest respect. This is exactly what this virtue is all about. Taking pride in yourself, your achievements without letting the sensation go to your head and overestimate your capabilities of doing or stopping to do things. Carry yourself like a King, but remember that a King is a servant to his people. Also, while we are on the topic, gay pride. I ain't gay myself, but I can respect gay people having fought for their rights, having succeeded and taking pride in it.

The Virtue of Gluttony!

I have lived through parts of my life eating too much of anything, whatever was in front of me, no matter the company. I also experienced not eating and drinking for almost four days. Needless to say that the first gives much more satisfaction, but that only lasts short term. These days, getting a quick dopamine rush is easy and is usually just one click of your mouse away. That's true for eating but also for consuming entertainment. I realized that the sin of gluttony is something I have been committing excessively throughout my life at almost every station and this is something I will have to control. I don't think that being hungry for something is a bad thing in itself. But you are what you eat and consuming things that are good for you, especially long term, can give a feeling of satisfaction that regular, trashy gluttony can never give you. So, in the name of the Cardinal Virtue of Gluttony, I want to gorge myself in everything that is good and healthy for me and want to relish in an constant, ongoing sensation of feeling good about myself!

The Virtue of Sloth!

Over the course of my life, I have learned that acting is always better than reacting. Being active is better than being passive for a lot of reasons. That being said, I am a huge opponent of the mindset that people should be "hustling" at any waking moment. That will actually hinder productivity in the long run. It will also make you sick. On the other hand, I am remarkably bad when it comes to taking breaks myself. I either work on no end without breaks or I do nothing for unhealthy amounts of time. Again, the key here in lies in finding the the sweet spot that works for me, the perfect balance of working and pause that allows me to get everything I want and need to get done without overworking myself or ending up binging and procrastinating.

The Virtue of Wrath!

In retrospect, it is funny to think about this topic as something actually being bad because quite a lot of fictional characters and persons I enjoy have wrath as their trademark characteristic. I think that the reason for that is the fact that people who feel wrath also always feel passion and determination about the topics that enrage them. And to honest, this is something that I lack at times. Quite a few topics that would other people be engulfed in a mix of emotions hardly phase me and that happens quite often. Passion and Determination are good things, but Wrath can easily end up perverting these and cause more harm than doing good. Being observant over if and what causes certain emotions within me and how to deal with those is something that I will focus on from now on. I think that being a bit more emotional is something that can actually help me in the future. But I will be the master of my emotions, not the other way around.

The Virtue of Envy!

We humans tend to be rather shortsighted at times. Self-absorbed as well. And there is arguably no emotion that shows these traits more than jealousy. But if you look at it from another perspective, being exposed to the jealousy of others can lead to us realizing how appreciative we should be about certain aspects of your lives. On the other hand, jealousy is also a great indicator for telling you what aspects of your lives are leaving you wanting. Used constructively, Envy is a great too for self-reflection, helping you getting a better understanding about who you are and what you desire.

The Virtue of Greed!

I think that many can benefit from people being greedy. If I were to accumulate all the things I desire, I can use them, wealth, knowledge, power, to make life better and more interesting for everyone else, creating opportunities and experience these others can use that I can then make my own in the process. Doesn't a hefty meal taste much better if you share it with people you like? I want to be the most greedy person one can possibly be by sharing all the things and gorging myself in what will result out of that happening!

The Virtue of Lust!

There is nothing wrong with lust. Lust is the catalyst that leads to life and recreation. The problem these days is that lust can very easily be perverted, and not in a good way. We live in times where the pornographic industry is booming like crazy and it leaves it's mark on the population, causing people to develop unhealthy expectations of what sex is like. So the only thing that I want to give away here is that instead of sitting in front of your computer visiting one of the numerous websites for a quick fix, go out, live and struggle for a bit and find someone you can actually love and relate with. Experiencing sensual things with that person will take you much further than any of these websites could take you. There actually exist plenty of studies that show the many psychological and physiological benefits of having a healthy sex-life. There also exist a lot of studies on how porn consumption degrades your brain, your social skills and, frankly enough, your sexual potential.

In Conclusion

Two posts in one day. Say what you want, but yesterdays experience of destructive sinning did leave an impression that led to me doing better than I probably otherwise would have today. A lot of what I talked about in both posts today are obviously subject to perspective and discussion, but that is good. I consider dealing in absolutes as somewhat limiting. There is a lot of grey area in between two extremes and within there waits a lot of potential that wants to be untapped.

My personal take away from all this, in short, is that I will be monitoring if and why I feel what much closer. I want a proper understanding of what triggers me in what way and what the best possible responses are in order to keep pushing me into the direction that is right for me long term. Coming to this realization, I am thankful for yesterdays destructive nature because from that, I was able to reconstruct myself today.

Two sides of the same coin, working together. There is some beauty to that rhetoric, isn't it?

In the sense of appriciation, as always, thank you all for your loyalty and support. I will see you in the next post.