The 1st Trust: I will develop my life for the greater good.

The 1st Trust: I will develop my life for the greater good.

For human beings, the goal of Areté (which means the highest virtue or greatest good) consists of excellently applying reason to virtue in the way we live. Having excellence as a goal means constantly improving oneself, even while knowing that perfection itself is unattainable. Purposefully committing ourselves to self-improvement encourages us to conquer our faults and misconceptions as the journey of life, that we call the quest, continues.

This requires some introspection. It is good to question our values, motives and conclusions now and then, just to make sure we are on the right path. Integrity calls for this. When we don’t, we find ourselves defending values that are not worthy of defending—which makes us part of the problem, not the solution.

What good is freedom if we don’t use it to improve ourselves? Should we spend our whole lives uncomfortably hampered by mistakes in judgment, not because they overpower us, but because we refuse to let them go?

Developing our lives for the greater good expresses the intrinsic value of being human. It elevates us from our insecurities. It affirms who we are, not just to ourselves but to the world. It challenges the dark mystery of life with a small, seemingly insignificant voice that nevertheless insists upon meaning. Without that voice, that spark of light with its moral yearnings, which so many of us feel reticent to use, humanity would be little more than a pestilence of greed and self-destruction.

So, think of ways to improve yourself for the greater good which you are part of already. It opens up the quest to incredible possibilities.