Giving Good a Try

Can't tell you how many times people have tried to get me to indulge a vice by telling me, "Dude, you don't know what you are missing."

Chances are, they are right. There are some experiences that don't make any sense to an outsider. They may seem odd, or downright dangerous, but to the people in the know, it's really the only way to live.

Funny thing is, virtues are much the same way. You really can't explain how good they feel to someone who has never tried. From the outside they seem odd, or downright dangerous, but to people in the know, its really the only way to live.

There are even virtues and vices that aren't even fulfilling in the beginning. Beer, I hear, is an acquired taste. So is vegetarianism. In fact, ironically, on multiple occasions I've had the eventual good taste of booze professed to me by the same person who rejected the initial taste of soy milk or veggie burgers. I find it interesting the disparate causes that convict different people to acquire a taste.

One of the reasons virtuous behavior has unforeseen benefits is because we tend to protect our egos from the bad that we do. Often we won't let ourselves admit our wrong doing until after we have stopped.

So the next time you are being called to a virtuous action, instead of asking is it really morally necessary, just give it a try. You might just find that your new virtue frees your mind to find justifications that you would have never believed had they been offered as motivation before you gave it a try.

So give it a try. Trust me, you don't know what you are missing.