Diligence

I've been feeling a little bit down spiritually and had the thought / inspiration the other day that I was focusing too much on my weaknesses and not enough on building up new strengths. I was reminded how Ben Franklin had a list of "virtues" that he actively worked on and recorded his progress in his journal. (At least that is my recollection, I have no source for that so don't take it as truth without verification.) At any rate, I would like to start working on developing and strengthening my virtues. I thought I would start with diligence. I figure if I get diligence down, then it will help in developing other virtues I'd like to instill in myself. To that end, I hope to spend less time mudding, on facebook, and whatnot. At least to bring it back into the realm of moderation and to discipline myself not to touch it during work hours. I'm going to find a good time tracker and be more accurate in my work time entries. I expect this will make be a better programmer too, since I'll spend more time actually working and developing my skills. Diligence should spill over into all areas of my life. Prayer and scripture study should become more regular. Exercise, organization and family duties should improve. I mean if I had diligence, things would be a lot better around here and I'd feel a lot better about myself. If I sound like I'm trying to talk myself into it, you're probably right. I've goofed off a lot in my life. It's fun while it lasts, but afterwards I regret what I could have done instead. I may miss some of the fun of goofing off, but my self image should improve and the times I do use for entertainment and fun will feel better for having been diligent beforehand.

I don't expect an overnight change. It's just something I want to focus on to improve myself. Maybe I'll even post more on my blog!