Autonomy and Life

No one said it would be easy, and it won’t. A well-designed, meaningful and rewarding life takes work. Careful thought. A big picture. Goals and objectives. Resolutions and resolve. Passion and restraint. A moral compass and a voice uniting conscience and deed.

Success in the new year is also going to take a willingness to return to the drawing board as we face inertia, criticism, moral dilemmas, cheap-shots, complexity, disappointment, breakdowns, rivals or the Scoreboard’s suggestion that we sell our souls for some really nice bling.

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Much of the good fight discussed in my previous posts has to do with self-determination and self-control, with mediating immediacy’s constant demands. But the good fight is also sustained by the ability of the conscience to withstand challenges from the voices of the ethically and lawfully bankrupt. So, this post will focus on the creative and assertive power of conscience to deal with this threat to our autonomy and life.

What is a conscience if not a voice? But if the voice is not in fighting shape, disciplined, trained and practiced, its grandeur and authority will be compromised. Said another way, if it lacks the substance and know-how to prevail, its voice, and thus the voice of autonomy, may be muted or silenced by other voices for whom materially serious corruption is a way of life.

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