GTM Part 39
Intro
In order to achieve great manliness in body, mind and soul, you need to be free to strive and work towards it. To be free here means two things: the first is not to be held back by bad habits in body, in mind or in soul. (We’ll look at the 2ndtomorrow.)
Bad habits of the body will manifest in poor hygiene, laziness in health and fitness, poor elegance, pampering the body and giving into her demands all the time, addiction to alcohol, weed or drugs, gluttony, lust, greed, hedonism, etc.
Bad habits of the mind manifest in lack of healthy curiosity, laziness in trying to understand words or concepts you come across in your reading, conversations or in media, unnecessarily exposing yourself to harmful ideas, lack of order in your pursuit for greater knowledge, etc.
Bad habits of the soul manifest principally in pride and indifference; in other words problems with ambition, obedience, sincerity, generosity, fortitude and humility.
Short Exercise 39
1. Even though fighting against these bad habits is a life- time struggle – especially for pride – it does well to speak to your mentor about them regularly, so as to recoup efforts, change strategies and wage war again.
2. In the same way in which you know your predominant temperament (from Part 22 or from the Zoom sessions on temperaments), by now you should also know what your predominant vice is: is it pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, anger/wrath or laziness/sloth?
Commentary:
If you are going to grow in manliness, you need to know yourself thoroughly. This implies knowing your temperament, its strengths and drawbacks, the main bad habit that type of temperament predisposes you to, how that bad habit manifests itself in your day-to-day life, and the best strategy you can use to conquer in that area.
Three things will aid you in this: prayer (i.e. consulting your Manufacturer), mentoring (i.e. consulting that big bro you’ve entrusted yourself and your ambitions to) and reading (i.e. consulting how other people have conquered in the same battles). Insisting on living your own life and learning from your own mistakes is both proud and retarded. Don’t waste your own time (your own life-time) making mistakes that other people have made! Learn from them!
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