One of the most important rules that affect human nature and influence a person’s overall health is temperance. The word temperance comes from the Latin word temperantia which means sobriety or “moderation”. One of the most specific definitions of this concept says that you temperance consists of completely refraining from everything harmful and of using judiciously what is healthful. In a cerian way, temperance can be compared to self-control and this concept is relevant to all aspects of our life: eating drinking sleeping, appearance and work. In each one of these areas, the greatest risk is no9t scarcity but abundance since temperance e – the lack of moderation and self-control is closely linked to the moral decadence of the human race.
The question is how is temperance going to assist us in developing good relationships? Healthy Relationships start with your Appetite.
Temperance is the virtue that governs our reaction to our appetites and desires. By it, we modify our attachment to pleasure and bring our appetite under control. It just means we have to understand the balance of life to form a healthy relationship.
This can be an especially tricky virtue for us today, for an interesting reason. Traditionally, in the west, men understood the mind to be roughly divided into Reason, Passion, and Appetite, with Reason being the highest part and Appetite the lowest. In the modern world, however, we understand it more after Dr Freud’s variation of Id, Ego, and Superego, where the Id (Appetite) is the most basic element that the Ego and Superego grow out of.
Healthy relationships start with your appetite, many would laugh at that, but you would not believe how mastering your appetite and managing what you eat is closely related.
The point of temperance is to put Reason back in charge
Now, the purpose of Temperance is to bring our appetites under the control of our reason. To continue the example of eating, the temperate man would neither gorge himself nor starve himself, but eat as much as he needs for the health of his body and no more.
You will note that this says nothing about what he eats: he may enjoy his food as much as he likes (indeed, temperance tends to increase our enjoyment of pleasure). The point is not to eat what you don’t like, or not to enjoy eating. The point is to keep the purpose of eating and its place in your life in mind as you do so.
In short, our appetites are meant to be our servants, not our masters. They have their place and their duties, but ought always to be under the command of reason. As C.S. Lewis succinctly put it, it’s not about denying our desires, but telling our desires where they get off. Great Relationships start with your Appetite
Healthy Relationships
The point to this article is very simple, we are encouraging our readers to practise self-control, and claim your life, your relationships and your experience. Do not be tempted in doing those little things we do and think because no one saw that you are in the clear, just practice good habit, starting with your appetite and this will transform into the other areas of our lives including our relationships. Healthy Relationships start with your Appetite
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