Essay/Term paper: Virtues of my life: order, courage, patience

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Philosophy

Virtues of My Life: Order, Courage, Patience


In order to survive in 1996, there need to be at least some standards
and goals of morality in a person's life. Moral excellence is definitely hard
to achieve, but is definitely something to attempt. Personally, there are many
distractions and obstructions the present day provides, creating a difficulty of
direction in my own life. I need to overcome obstacles such as peer pressure in
order to become a confident, successful person. The present day provides
impediments which I believe I can overcome by way of morality and virtue. Order,
courage, patience, and faith are all virtues necessary for personal achievement
in my life.
The first virtue I have chosen is order. In agreement with Russell Kirk,
I also believe that "order is the path we follow, or the pattern by which we
live with purpose and meaning." Order is something that directs in our
everyday lives, a working condition we cannot live without. Without order there
is chaos, and with chaos there is room for little virtue. Order is important
because it provides life with stability and direction. As an example of a
personal order, the school schedule which governs my academic studies is a type
of order, setting specifics of where and when I should be. Order helps in my
life if I am able and willing to create a schedule for each day, specifically
stating when I should be doing what. If I can achieve order in my own life,
worries and concerns will be eliminated by means of order that will easily
become habit. Russell Kirk also states, "Order is the first need of the soul.
It is not possible to love what one ought to love, unless we recognize some
principles of order by which to govern ourselves." Because of the needs of our
soul, I again agree with Russell Kirk that religion, morality itself, and our
everyday feelings are derivatives of order. Nothing can be achieved without
some sort of order, but we must first recognize that the things we desire can be
achieved only by gaining order. Order is truly the first need of human life.
Courage is the second virtue I have chosen. Courage is a virtue needed
to conquer fear or despair. The virtue of courage is important because it can
be applied in numerous situations. If people possess courage, they can be
strong and stable in situations where they might feel uncomfortable. Since
there are many things in life which are stressful and unfamiliar, such as
apprehension of the first day on a job, first day at a new school, or what you
will find behind door number two, courage will allow you to overcome these
suspicions and fears. Personally, courage will help me become more confident in
the activities in which I participate. I can feel better about myself and not
be so timid, but at the same time, courage is not something which I can abuse.
If courage is abused it can easily generate into conceit or egotism. Egotism
can easily be obtained by overworking courage. Courage levels out to be the
happy medium between bashfulness and conceit.
The third virtue I have chosen which will hopefully lead to self-
improvement is patience. Patience is the tolerance and the ability to wait.
Patience is necessary for life because throughout life there is waiting to be
done. Because half of life is spent in waiting, there are few desirable
alternatives to being patient. If people are not patient, they can easily
become frustrated and stressed when they realize the length of time they may
have to wait. Patience is a required trait, and there are absolutely no
shortcuts for waiting. Personally, patience can be applied to my life because
there is suspense and waiting for the rest of my life and there is no
alternative for even my own waiting. I must wait to become an adult at 18, I
must wait to reach the legal drinking age, I must wait to finish high school and
college, and I must wait to marry the love of my life. It is not possible to
age faster, finish college.