To purchase the entire Summit Lecture Series, Vol. 1 on DVD, go to: summit.org
Aristotle said that the way we become better people and make the best next decision is through our habits.
“So it is a matter of no little importance what sort of habits we form from the earliest age – it makes a vast difference or rather all the difference in the world”
-Aristotle
So what are your habits?
A recent study showed that about 60% of your day is filled with habitual activity – brushing your teeth, tying your shoes, morning routines, driving to work, etc.
One way to nail down what your habits are is to answer the following questions:
1) What are your loves?
- With what or whom are you most intimate?
- With what or whom are you relating?
- What causes you to relate?
2) What are your longings?
- To what do you aspire?
- Where have you aimed your life?
- What is success to you?
3) What are your loyalties?
4) What are your labors?
5) What are your liturgies?
- What are the habits of your life?
- What gets your constant attention?
- What do you worship?
C.S. Lewis wrote in “The Abolition of Man” that the education system at his time were filling the students minds with knowledge, their bellies with passion, but doing nothing to cultivate the chest.
In this idea, Lewis is actually referring back to Aristotle. Aristotle claimed that the head is the seed of reason, the belly is the seed of the passion and the head must govern the belly, not the other way around.
Proper habits in your life contribute to the head (reason and knowledge) governing over the belly (passion).
Now, typically, when the head and belly come into conflict, the belly wins. Which is why Lewis contends that we need moral courage filling our chests.
If you have not cultivated moral courage in your life, you will become a victim of a culture that is sweeping down the wrong way.