Sloth

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Acedia, sloth, accidia, pigritia - APATHY. This is the only of the seven deadly sins that I have a hard time beating. It’s the hardest to beat for me, because you seem to be lacking the energy to even start fighting it. I wish I had a lot of energy and discipline and I could study, read, work, for hours without interruptions.

It’s not that I watch TV all day or anything. I am always active in a way, but I always go to sleep with feelings of guilt that I haven’t been active enough, done enough things, spent too much time on Facebook or doing something not useful.

It’s the battle I’m fighting all my life. Do you have any ideas, practical or spiritual, advice, how to beat this? How to be as active as I want to be? How not to waste time? Nowadays media/Internet tempt us with useless “activities” all the time.
 
Acedia, sloth, accidia, pigritia - APATHY. This is the only of the seven deadly sins that I have a hard time beating. **It’s the hardest to beat for me, because you seem to be lacking the energy to even start fighting it. **I wish I had a lot of energy and discipline and I could study, read, work, for hours without interruptions.

It’s not that I watch TV all day or anything. I am always active in a way, but I always go to sleep with feelings of guilt that I haven’t been active enough, done enough things, spent too much time on Facebook or doing something not useful.

It’s the battle I’m fighting all my life. Do you have any ideas, practical or spiritual, advice, how to beat this? How to be as active as I want to be? How not to waste time? Nowadays media/Internet tempt us with useless “activities” all the time.
Why do you think you lack energy? Do you work out and eat well? Do you sleep well? Are you suffering from depression?

If your issue is lacking energy, don’t blame yourself for being sinful. Working out and eating well can increase your energy, also see a doctor to check if y ou have any medical conditions that might be causing it.
 
I wish I had a lot of energy and discipline and I could study, read, work, for hours without interruptions.
That’s not a matter of energy or discipline - it’s called life. We all live in societies with other people, who interrupt us whether we like it or not. Unless you become a total hermit who doesn’t even interact with other hermits, our time is NEVER so entirely our own that we can control interruptions to the extent that you seem to want to.

Even for those whose time IS entirely their own, it’s human nature - we aren’t machines, we need rest, we need breaks, we need a variety of tasks and activities in our days, and we don’t function properly without them. We’re built that way.
I am always active in a way, but I always go to sleep with feelings of guilt that I haven’t been active enough, done enough things, spent too much time on Facebook or doing something not useful.
How active is active ‘enough’? Where in scriptures, for example, does it say ‘thou shalt work 8/10/12 hours a day’? And what exactly makes you think that being ‘always active in a way’ does not qualify as ‘active enough’?

Please don’t get sucked into this idea that spending some time each day on non-productive activity is anything other than healthy and normal. Your thinking is tied in to the idea that ‘you are what you produce’, which Our Lord has surely shown us is wrong.

It’s in fact another form of distraction - only instead of distracting yourself with facebook or whatnot, you distract yourself with other tasks that you falsely imagine to be more ‘important’ or more ‘worthy’.

Remember what Our Lord said about worrying about what we’re going to eat, how we’re going to clothe ourselves and the like things that we tend to think of as being important. Apart from prayer and charitable work, most EVERYTHING we do is of very secondary importance in the grand scheme of things, whatever value we may place on it.

Remember too, only robots can work at maximum capacity for hours on end, and even they break down fairly quickly when worked in such a way. Humans, being much more fragile than machinery, break down very quickly indeed when they are overworked.

There’s even an episode in the Gospels where Jesus sees how overworked and overwhelmed the Apostles are and takes them off to a quiet place to be by themselves and rest. Meditate on that for a while.
It’s the battle I’m fighting all my life. Do you have any ideas, practical or spiritual, advice, how to beat this? How to be as active as I want to be? How not to waste time? Nowadays media/Internet tempt us with useless “activities” all the time.
See above - unless you’re spending many hours a day every day in front of the tv screen or on the internet or something, then you’re not close to the sin of sloth.
 
Wait… I spend hours a day on CAF reading the posts and growing in knowledge about the Lord…is this considered sloth or another sin?
 
Wait… I spend hours a day on CAF reading the posts and growing in knowledge about the Lord…is this considered sloth or another sin?
Not unless you’re neglecting other duties - say if your work is suffering as a result of you being on CAF, or you’re allowing the house to get filthy, or you’re neglecting to spend time with spouse or children because you’d rather be on CAF.
 
Anyway, if you are always working you’ll burn out. Resting is important.
 
How can you be slothful if you’re always busy? I have no idea – you could just be uber-scrupulous. Assuming that you’re not – just limit yourself to how much time you spend on Facebook, etc. Set a timer and when it dings, do something else.

Also, make a list of what you do all day, every day for a week. Then look at it. You probably get more done than you think. Also having it in print can help you target the things you do that are unproductive, whatever definition you use for that.

I did this myself and found that the reason I was so stressed was because I was doing TOO MUCH. My husband asked me to implement the tips I just gave you and it was amazing how hard I was working! I give myself much more permission now to rest – and my life is happier because I have energy to do all the work I need to do.

Best to you!
 
I think our society puts too high of a value on always being “busy”. If you are not multi-tasking you are unproductive. This pressure happens in the workplace all of the time and I think it is often to the detriment of the work being done. People are not allowed to have their whole focus on one thing at a time. I find that some of the busiest people I know are the least productive of really good work.

Parents schedule every minute of their kids time, never letting them have time to just “be” and explore their own thoughts and ideas. I think this often mirrors the adults fear of spending quiet time alone and finding out they don’t like their own company very much.

People who are gregarious and high energy are currently seen as more valuable in our culture than those who are slower, quieter, and more reflective. As an introvert who doesn’t fit the current ideal, I have learned not to buy into that mindset.
 
  • Thank you so much! -
I will try to write down and monitor myself.

I don’t think I’m doing too much. At my age I should have a house, a car, finished University and a family. I have none of these (I am about to finish University though). I feel guilty and as if I wasted my life. Years ago I spent countless hours playing World of Warcraft. I feel so bad for that and I can’t forgive myself. I could have finished school already had I not let myself be tempted into that addictive game. - Things like this, you see.

That in the “grand scheme” it doesn’t matter so much, I thank you for that remark it alleviates my feelings of guilt a bit.I will pray to God for energy and guidance. I feel like I lost so much time in my life for useless things while I could be doing something important. - But I feel better after your encouragements! - Thanks again,.
 
  • Thank you so much! -
I will try to write down and monitor myself.

I don’t think I’m doing too much. At my age I should have a house, a car, finished University and a family. I have none of these (I am about to finish University though). I feel guilty and as if I wasted my life. Years ago I spent countless hours playing World of Warcraft. I feel so bad for that and I can’t forgive myself. I could have finished school already had I not let myself be tempted into that addictive game. - Things like this, you see.

That in the “grand scheme” it doesn’t matter so much, I thank you for that remark it alleviates my feelings of guilt a bit.I will pray to God for energy and guidance. I feel like I lost so much time in my life for useless things while I could be doing something important. - But I feel better after your encouragements! - Thanks again,.
It is completely pointless to feel bad and blame yourself for having played a computer game excessively in the past. Feeling bad and dwelling on it will not change the past. Even if you had committed a serious sin and gone to confession you would be told to forget about it and move on.

Learn from your experience, ask yourself why you were tempted to play a computer game so much in the first place. Were you suffering from depression? Address this issue so that it doesn’t happen again. Talk to a professional about it, because if your situation was that severe there may well be underlying issues that you can’t just will yourself out of but need to get treated for.
 
I think the key is – everything in moderation. If you made some mistakes in the past, move on. Spend time on God, work/school, home maintenance and then you should have some time to relax. Don’t beat yourself up but have a plan and do the important things and you will feel better. Take care.
 
  • Thank you so much! -
I will try to write down and monitor myself.

I don’t think I’m doing too much. At my age I should have a house, a car, finished University and a family. I have none of these (I am about to finish University though). I feel guilty and as if I wasted my life. Years ago I spent countless hours playing World of Warcraft. I feel so bad for that and I can’t forgive myself. I could have finished school already had I not let myself be tempted into that addictive game. - Things like this, you see.

That in the “grand scheme” it doesn’t matter so much, I thank you for that remark it alleviates my feelings of guilt a bit.I will pray to God for energy and guidance. I feel like I lost so much time in my life for useless things while I could be doing something important. - But I feel better after your encouragements! - Thanks again,.
‘Should have a house, a car, finished University and a family’??? Coulda woulda shoulda. Rot.

Did Jesus have any of the above? Nope. Did He waste His life? Nope. Did Mother Teresa have any of the above? Nope. Did SHE waste her life? Also a big negative.

If you really played computer games so much that it meant you neglected these other things, there are one of two possibilities.

One is that you were suffering MAJOR depression at the time, or maybe something else like ADD (I’m a sufferer). Or you were addicted maybe, which is a real thing that does happen. In any event I doubt you started playing games intending to play so much that your study or anything else suffered, so don’t beat yourself up about it unduly.

The other possibility, of course, is that you’re meant to do something with this passion of yours - maybe you should pursue work either in designing or writing about/reviewing computer games or counselling others who are addicted. See, even now you can put what happened to good use so that you WON’T feel like it was wasted time.

Otherwise - if you’re studying/working/doing productive things on a full-time basis - meaning 40 hours a week, as people normally do - then you’re certainly doing more than enough that sloth shouldn’t be a concern for you.
 
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