But I Digress...

Yesterday, while I was having an early morning cup of tea, I stopped to read the wisdom found printed on the teabag tag: "All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire. -- Aristotle" It got me to thinking. Later in the day, I received a newsletter which referenced Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics; it's a serious volume, but I had to laugh.

According to Aristotle, the supreme happiness is to be found in a life of philosophical contemplation. Sure, I'll get right on that... He did concede that this is possible for only a few, so what's left to the rest of us? Happiness, he says, is the activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, finding the felicitous middle between the extremes of excess and deficiency. Balance.

How many of us can say we have balance in our lives? Balance is a delicate thing, to be sure; a shape-shifter. The pursuit of virtue, moral excellence, is your surest bet for achieving balance: do the right thing, the right way, at the right time. My new favorite motto. Now, as I swallow that cup of philosophical reflection, the right thing to do is to go make the kids' lunches: time for school. I hope they learn something today, but it probably won't be in class...