What's the best attitude to take in life?

[fakename]

what’s the best (most moral) attitude to take in life?

As Catholics, we know that we cannot attain to perfect virtue in this life. So then our attitude towards living the good life should be what?

It cannot be perfectionism if we think about perfection in a pelagian sense. So what type of perfectionism is it, that allows for despairing of attaining morality in this life?

Also, in what way is a good man called good in this life, for even good men have sins? Is it that good men are people who do more virtuous things than sinful ones or are they people who do good deeds which are weightier than the bad they also do? Both?

Thanks

 

[Ahimsa]

what’s the best (most moral) attitude to take in life?

The Be-attitudes.

 

[meltzerboy]

what’s the best (most moral) attitude to take in life?

As Catholics, we know that we cannot attain to perfect virtue in this life. So then our attitude towards living the good life should be what?

It cannot be perfectionism if we think about perfection in a pelagian sense. So what type of perfectionism is it, that allows for despairing of attaining morality in this life?

Also, in what way is a good man called good in this life, for even good men have sins? Is it that good men are people who do more virtuous things than sinful ones or are they people who do good deeds which are weightier than the bad they also do? Both?

Thanks

I don’t know for sure what Catholicism says about this although I believe it does state that striving to be morally perfect like Jesus is a most worthy goal. According to Judaism, while G-d appreciates good works and gives “credit” for these, He appreciates even more a sinful person who persists in picking themselves up and trying again rather than giving up. Those who have to overcome great odds are greatly rewarded. G-d knows that none of us can be perfect; however, the effort to do better the next time, no matter how many times we have failed and no matter what the odds are, is the important thing. After all, Rome was not built in a day!

 

[Pfaffenhoffen]

what’s the best (most moral) attitude to take in life?

As Catholics, we know that we cannot attain to perfect virtue in this life. So then our attitude towards living the good life should be what?

I think the best if to follow Christ. He is the leader, the role model.
All the other reasoning is just theory.
Jesus Christ was sinless but the was not perfet. He had all the imperfections of human condition: he suffered, was sick, was anguished, tortured in his soul, misunderstood, had to walk tousands of steps to reach a point, ate like everybody, did his necessities like everybody.
I think go for perfection is an ilusion. Go for Jesus Christ and He is a Person. Imitate Him.
Moreover there is a big difference between sinning and getting up and sinning and staying in the mud. One was Judas Iscariotes, the other was St. Peter.

 

[tskrobacz]

I don’t know for sure what Catholicism says about this although I believe it does state that striving to be morally perfect like Jesus is a most worthy goal. According to Judaism, while G-d appreciates good works and gives “credit” for these, He appreciates even more a sinful person who persists in picking themselves up and trying again rather than giving up. Those who have to overcome great odds are greatly rewarded. G-d knows that none of us can be perfect; however, the effort to do better the next time, no matter how many times we have failed and no matter what the odds are, is the important thing. After all, Rome was not built in a day!

Even Jesus (Matthew 15:26-27) demonstrates that perfection must include all that is not perfect when he apologizes for calling the women a dog. It seems the best we can do is to say yes to each moment and attempt to replace pain wherever we find it with love and forgiveness.

 

[FallenLeaf]

Cultivating humility, ie seeing ourselves as we really are in God’s eyes, as unworthy and totally dependant on His grace and help, and a sense of “self-forgetting” are a good starting point. If our focus is on God, rather than on ourselves, we will conform more closely to His perfect and Holy will.
To emulate Our Mother Mary and the Saints is a good place to start, particularly those Saints who practised much humility in their lives. The greatest examples for me are St. Therese of Lisieux, whose *Little Way *can help us, and St. Bernadette Soubirous

 

[meltzerboy]

Cultivating humility, ie seeing ourselves as we really are in God’s eyes, as unworthy and totally dependant on His grace and help, and a sense of “self-forgetting” are a good starting point. If our focus is on God, rather than on ourselves, we will conform more closely to His perfect and Holy will.
To emulate Our Mother Mary and the Saints is a good place to start, particularly those Saints who practised much humility in their lives. The greatest examples for me are St. Therese of Lisieux, whose *Little Way *can help us, and St. Bernadette Soubirous

Agreed. And to expand a bit: the best attitude to take in life regardless of one’s specific religious belief or no religious belief is to act with charity and compassion toward others as often as we can.

 

[0129141]

I say don’t aim at perfection, because you will never reach it. Aim at trying to be near perfect, because that’s a more realistic goal. We all have faults that we will fall into time and time again (esp our predominant fault), and what matters most is that we recognize our error, learn from it, and go on like pilgrims to heaven.

 

[fakename]

how do you think this attitude should manifest itself?

The man who is always in the right should carry a self-important noble air about him.

But the man who is mostly wrong should be humble.

But no one is one or the other type of person but a mix -sometimes right or sometimes wrong. So should you sometimes take yourself seriously and at other times act humbly?

Or is there a mean personality type that combines both of these attitudes into one whole -a stoic persona?

 

[jochoa]

what’s the best (most moral) attitude to take in life?

As Catholics, we know that we cannot attain to perfect virtue in this life. So then our attitude towards living the good life should be what?

It cannot be perfectionism if we think about perfection in a pelagian sense. So what type of perfectionism is it, that allows for despairing of attaining morality in this life?

Also, in what way is a good man called good in this life, for even good men have sins? Is it that good men are people who do more virtuous things than sinful ones or are they people who do good deeds which are weightier than the bad they also do? Both?

Thanks

The Best (Godly) Attitude is founded in The Purpose of Man:
Achieve and “Spread the Means” of Perfected Peace, Happiness, Energy, and Wisdom.

The Means is found in The Greatest Commandments:
Always be Patient and Kind and Motivated for God with all your Body, Essence, Thoughts, and Will towards Others and the Self.

To Assess the Quality of the Practice of Love:

1. If your body is feeling tense, or your mind is thinking stressful thoughts: Why or How are you not being Patient?
2. If your body is feeling hurt or angry, or your mind is thinking sad, frustrated, or bored thoughts: Why or How are you not being Kind?
3. If your body is feeling tired of being Patient and Kind, or your mind is fatigued of being Patient and Kind: Why or How are you not being Motivated for God?
4. If your relationships are experiencing strife or boredom or sadness: Why or How are you not being, respectively, Patient or Kind?

My thoughts Regarding a Good Man is One who was trying his/her best at perfecting these attributes. Since we are Ignorant, it takes some time to figure it out. And in the learning process, we will struggle and fail to do that which is Best.

These are the standards I have come to personally accept. Although it is difficult at some points, My life and relationships have Always improved through reflection and adjustment of my behaviors.