What values do I stand for as I go forward in life? It’s a confusing question in the modern era, isn’t it? Because when you think to yourself, I go to school. I work hard, study hard, graduate from grade 12, then, god willing, I enter into a good university. And this seems to be a predominant factor amongst many young people today, less so in North America now because increasingly the cost is stunning and less so on the continent, Britain and otherwise, but more so in Asia still, in Korea and Taiwan, Japan.
Young people go to university. Then after university, what do I do? Well, obviously, I get a job, a good job, hopefully. And I make lots of money and meet mister and missus right, save some money, go along, retire, and then eventually die. So these are my values, aren’t they?
Hard work, savings, things along this nature. But most assuredly, a lot of people now say, wait a moment. Wait a moment. This model of life might be wrong. I don’t want to be necessarily a wage slave.
I want to have a career. I really wanna care about what I do. The old I’m gonna sell my time for money increasingly is not very interesting to young people. And if I’m forced into an economic system that I must do this, I’m gonna do the minimum. Lying flat, perhaps in China is a phenomenon or another idea is called the freeters, which are the free workers’ basic job, maybe working at some convenience store.
Good enough. That’s the life I want. So my values are that I want to live a fulfilling life somehow. And if I can’t make a lot of money, well, so be it. I still want to live a fulfilling life.
So we have these two competing phenomena at the moment, don’t we? The one says work hard, save your money, become rich, and the other says, well, hold on a moment. I want success on my own terms. Whatever that means. And so we end up in the modern world.
And I think somehow, there’s gotta be a balance between the two for sure. We don’t wanna be a wage slave. A career is a must, but it’s a career that I develop. Right? And I don’t know if a lot of young people realize that to develop this career, when I claim I want to develop, requires about five to ten years of very, very, very hard work.
No joke. You take a band like the Beatles. They didn’t arrive out of nowhere. They spent close to ten thousand hours, hours developing who they eventually became. And many people are like this.
You go to a great doctor. You’re not gonna go to the doctor who’s just gotten out of medical school for sure. You’re gonna go to the doctor who’s been at it for fifteen, twenty, thirty years. He knows what he’s talking about. An education plus experience equals expertise.
And when I’m there, when I’m really there in my career, I am in a state of flow. So true, isn’t it? When I’m in a state of flow, I’m totally free. Now in my experience, when I see a doctor, long term doctor, professional doctor, doctor with lots of experience, he or she, these are happy people. They want to serve you.
They’re overjoyed that you’ve come into their world and they spend no amount of time with you. As busy as they are to answer your questions, to solve your problems, a good car mechanic. He’s also in a state of flow, isn’t he? A good salesman. State of flow.
They want to deal with you. Yes. And of course, the salesman is going to make money and, of course, the doctor is going to be well paid, but they are still in their career. So kind of an interesting aside, what are the values that have always been a part of us? Well, certainly in Western culture, we often talk about sins.
Sins and of course, the original sin, Eve took a bite of the apple then convinced Adam to take a bite and they were then thrown out of the garden by God. So ultimately, what are these sins? Well, these sins have come down to us today are actually not in the Bible, but they’re from a pope by the name of pope Gregory of all people. Pope Gregory the first, pope Gregory the great. And he lived from 540 to 604 A.D.
And he brought the eight sins or nine sins and virtues down to seven. And I’d like to share with you what they are. You have the deadly sin of pride and its counterpart, its virtue is humility. The deadly sin of envy. I’m so envious.
I’m jealous of you. Its counterpart, kindness. That deadly sin of wrath, extreme anger. I’m so frustrated. I watched this the other day with a man and a car accident.
He just lost his nut. He was screaming and hollering over a car. Ridiculous. Its counterpart, its virtue, patience. Sloth, people that are dirty, they don’t do a good job at work even when they’re sweeping, you see them.
Sloth and hard work, diligence. Then we have a nasty one, greed. People that just seemingly want too much. The businessman that just can’t stop acquiring more and more money, and then eventually, of course, suffers. Comparison, charity, generosity.
These all you can eat buffets, gluttony, people eat like pigs. It’s an embarrassment. The opposite, of course, is temperance. Increasingly, more and more people want to be clear. They don’t wanna eat too much.
They don’t drink alcohol. They don’t take drugs. They want to have a relation ship with God, the universe in a sober sense. Then finally, we have lust. Uncontrollable lust.
Hence, runaway images, pornography, etcetera, etcetera, and then chastity, its counterpart. So these are the seven deadly sins, so called, and the seven virtues. So if we’re going to live our life by some values, we must think of these things, mustn’t we? We must work hard for sure, but by the same token, we cannot be a wage slave, can we? We cannot be a wage slave.
We need a career because the ultimate goal of life, of course, is happiness. And Aristotle, as I’ve often said, tells us that we have the possibility of being happy, but happiness is a process. It’s extremely easy to be unhappy, very hard to be happy. So what are your values? You ask yourself.
And you know what they say. You know what they say. Critical thinking is necessary, especially if I’m going to develop my values, and critical thinking is great. Truly great. You take care. God bless. Bye bye.