Hello Oleg! On the question of is a person a better human because they keep daily commitments to themselves, I'd say that the answer is not an easy yes or no. The ability to keep daily commitments depends on so many external factors. For people who read, write, ponder, consider, make art, stare out the window, walk slowly and think about anything other than the task or commitment at hand for pleasure, when time is meted out, escape is favored over sticking to an arbitrary commitment that one has assigned to themselves. Also, I don't think a value judgment in an either or set up helps the person nudge themselves to ultimately flipping the switch and making the change to the healthier/better behavior. Self acceptance isn't linear, it shifts. I'd make the argument that for parents of young children whose welfare is of primary importance, sometimes the ham sandwich is the vacation and the salad is another chore.
It's definitely a complicated question because what's inside each of us is not explicitly written anywhere -- consciousness is constant flux. One point of clarification is it's not so much daily commitments that I wrote about but commitments in general -- sometimes daily, sometimes a one-off, and various other intervals. Regarding your last sentence, I'd say that whether or not young children are present, people should be judicious about what promises they make to themselves, and, up-to-a-point forgiving. But what is that point? When is it fine to give oneself a break and when should we be firm and admit to a failure of willpower?
Hello Oleg! On the question of is a person a better human because they keep daily commitments to themselves, I'd say that the answer is not an easy yes or no. The ability to keep daily commitments depends on so many external factors. For people who read, write, ponder, consider, make art, stare out the window, walk slowly and think about anything other than the task or commitment at hand for pleasure, when time is meted out, escape is favored over sticking to an arbitrary commitment that one has assigned to themselves. Also, I don't think a value judgment in an either or set up helps the person nudge themselves to ultimately flipping the switch and making the change to the healthier/better behavior. Self acceptance isn't linear, it shifts. I'd make the argument that for parents of young children whose welfare is of primary importance, sometimes the ham sandwich is the vacation and the salad is another chore.
It's definitely a complicated question because what's inside each of us is not explicitly written anywhere -- consciousness is constant flux. One point of clarification is it's not so much daily commitments that I wrote about but commitments in general -- sometimes daily, sometimes a one-off, and various other intervals. Regarding your last sentence, I'd say that whether or not young children are present, people should be judicious about what promises they make to themselves, and, up-to-a-point forgiving. But what is that point? When is it fine to give oneself a break and when should we be firm and admit to a failure of willpower?