Welcome to my ”Nine Noble Virtues” series here on Steemit. Today the virtue we will be discussing is ”honor” and to me, it is the most important virtue of them all. Honor is the foundation of all virtues and within itself, your honor will last long after you have left from this world.
One example I like to use when explaining honor is that it is similar to acquiring XP the same as you would in a role-playing game. Honor is the sum of our acts and deeds while we progress through our lives. When we do good, when we make the right choices, or when we fulfill our oaths our honor is increased. If you happen to believe in reincarnation, you can think of it as each time you respawn you bring with you the good and bad acts from your past life, the more honor you have the more XP you respawn with.
Now that I have that out of the way, let me talk about honor in this life, and how we can live every day honorably. There are many many aspects to the virtue of honor, but for now I am going to mainly focus on making oaths. In this way, honor ties in a lot with truth and you can check out my truth post here.
You may not realize it, but we make oaths very often in life. We promise to arrive at a certain time, we promise to complete a task, we swear to begin a healthy habit (or abstain from a bad one), we promise to remain loyal and faithful to our spouses for life, we may sign a contract to obtain credit or purchase property, and the list goes on and on.
Each and every time an oath is successfully completed, or adhered to, we gain a little more honor (a little more XP), the more difficult the oath (the quest) the more honor that is gained. The same goes for when an oath is broken. For the greater violations the more honor that is lost, or the more dishonor you will have. For example, if you break an oath to your spouse and leave her you can bet that the dishonor of your actions is going to affect you in a major way, similar to eastern traditions of karma. I am sure you know what it feels like to be dishonorable, it is not a good feeling.
No one is keeping track of your honor however, this is a part of you, and you carry it through life inside of yourself. Whether you feel ashamed or not, each time you commit a dishonorable act you become more detached from your world and those around you. You are out of balance and one way or another, you will pay for it. The good news is that you have the power within YOURSELF to be a more honorable person (no middle eastern God needed).
Honor is a powerful and amazing virtue as it defines the way we live and the way we are perceived, by ourselves and by others. If we live honorable lives we can be certain that our children will strive to be honorble, and their children, and so on. Even if you don't believe in reincarnation, I promise you that the honorable life you have lived will survive long after you are gone surviving through your descendants and their actions.
Please do not be mistaken. There is no dishonor in being proud of your accomplishments in life. It is healthy to take pride in your victories and to share them with others.
Therefore, I am asking you what oaths have you honored? Was there one that was particularly difficult? How did you feel once the oath was honored or how do you feel continuing to honor that oath?
Let's not focus on the negatives today I'm sure everyone knows the shame and disappointment of breaking an oath. Let's take a moment today to be proud of our accomplishments.
My most sacred oath is to that of my wife. Each day I try to remind myself of the vows that I made to her and I am so proud to honor them. We are a family now with three children and I know I will never abandon them and no matter how difficult the circumstances are I will never dishonor them. I am my wife’s husband and my children's father. That, I will always be.
”Cattle die, kinsmen die, all men are mortal. Words of praise will never perish, nor a noble name.” -Hávamál
Thanks for reading and looking forward to your response!