The repetition of good acts leads to excellence

Adelaide celebrating a pretend mass for her stuffed animals. Her brothers didn't want to attend. 

In continuation of my last post "Good habits everyday", I would like to add some thoughts. I went to a brief conference last week in which the speaker said that Aristotle was the one who coined the term "virtue" and both he and Plato thought the repetition of good acts leads to excellence. I could hardly believe my ears... this came in confirmation of everything I've been reflecting on recently. 

The speaker said, "Aristotle is 4th century BC so don't come telling me Christians are so annoying with their moralistic 'value system'". These greek philosphers thought that values were part of the world of ideas and lifted us up out of our material world. They believed in magnanimity, and in being the best you could be. If man could be better than he was, it was a crime not to try. 

I caught myself thinking about how hard my life seems sometimes. Always waking up early. Sometimes going to bed late (to write this post, for example). Getting out of the house to go to mass. Getting children fed, bathed and sleeping on more or less regular schedules. Escorting the princess to millions of activities. Wouldn't it be easier to just sit on my couch a little more? Watch some TV and be more lax with this good habits thing? I feel pretty desperate and tired sometimes. 

Then a Bible verse came to me: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

And I thought: I don't rest when I am depressed and can't get out of bed or off the couch. Or with vices. I  I amrest when creative or communicative. I rest when I write articles and post on my blog and talk to friends and get ideas from books. So I need to get to those things.