I was thinking today about how I tried for several years to start smoking but could never develop the habit. I finally just gave up. I don't claim to be a paragon of virtue, or anything else of which one can reasonably be said to be a paragon. I mean, paragon of sloth just doesn't sound right, does it? How many sides does a paragon have anyhow?
In fact, of the four or five of the seven deadly sins that come to mind as I write this, I'm pretty much guilty, depending on how you define them, and unrepentant, which now that I think of it is probably one of the ones I've forgotten.
The good news, though, is that sloth as I understand it has probably saved my ass on more than one occasion. Take the idea of addiction, for instance. Folks, while I've been something short of temperate in periods of my life, I've also avoided succumbing to the temptations of infinite repetition ... exploring the "gateways" to ruin did not result in sliding down any slippery slopes. Not because of will power, not because good judgment, but because of good old fashioned sloth.
In the case of drugs, a lot of your apparently addictive substances just seem to make people more active, high-speed, and nervous, as well as being bad for your complexion. Those ones, frankly, are out. I don't want to do more ... I want to do less. And of the drugs correctly termed "narcotics," while they might induce a pleasantly slothful experience, from what I've seen it looks like they turn into a full-time job sooner or later. And yeah, I already have one more of those than I'd have in a perfect world.
Sloth also saves on stupidity. I've always been too lazy to develop obsessions with unattainable women, for instance. Okay, maybe I'm lying. But I've certainly been too lazy to act on them. I never went out of my way to drive past somebody's house, if that's what stalkers do, only because it's too much work and mental effort to behave that way. I've never been one to call again and again and leave multiple messages or pick up the phone just to see if there's a dial tone in case somebody was trying to call me back. Again, too much effort.
If sloth is a sin ... then let me be guilty!
1 comment:
Sloth is not the anti-drug for me. Dope makes me happy and peppy and giggly and a fast talker. As those who know me would probably agree, I am pretty much all those things when I'm not high, so since it's kinda like I'm always high, why bother? (Did that sentence make sense to non-high readers?)
But, yay for sloth, anyhow. It's a wonderful sin.
Post a Comment