Restraint

You know, some of the best things that have happened to me have been because I have managed to show restraint in my life.  Whether it means not drinking on a night out, or eating less (because I regularly enjoy pigging out, big time.) or not getting angry when things don't go my way, I've almost always been rewarded for taking steps back, and examining what's going on in my life, and taking the course that is modest, understanding and quiet. 

While it's fun to have lots of adventure, get messy, make mistakes, and just generally enjoy life, more can be accomplished with what even just a little bit of restraint most times.  It's good to be passionate, but it's also good to be focused in our desires, wants and needs.

One of the things about human beings in general is that they need time to appreciate what they have, and the more we bombard our senses and try and reach for certain kinds of highs in our lives, the less time that we have to appreciate the things we have in our lives. 

More than anything, having restraint means the ability to appreciate the role of time in our lives.  Everything takes time....some things take more time than others.  I often get caught up trying to solve things in my life instantly, and I guess that's an offshoot of me trying to be practical.  Which is funny, since I don't think most of my friends would call me practical.  ^_^

More than anything, all good things in life take time.  A good life takes time.  Part of the problem with everyone in my generation, and all people my age, is that we want so much, but we don't know how to get it within a proper timeframe that makes sense to the rest of the world, or to ourselves.  We frustrate our own ends, and often.  We all have a long ways to go before we'll be where we think we ought to be.

And that sort of thinking requires restraint.