My favorite old fashioned value is Honor, which has a close relationship. It comes into play, for example, when I've committed to not to exceed my annual caloric requirement.

It's actually Mansfield Park where Jane Austen really gets into virtue, if you're interested.

thanks JL. Actually I googled Jane Austen virtue and found an abstract of a paper that said something about Aristotle too. And the truth is there is a long tradition of mulling the nature of a virtuous human being (often gendered I suppose but you can pick and choose things that make sense) if you go looking for it.

you know for a good stretch there I was really getting self disciplined this year and the hard thing is it wasn't a mental conception like the ones I'm juggling here. It was just a basic internal thing. "I'm not spending X today... fine." And that was that. I think it has something to do with short term time controls. If you don't do X in the next 5 minutes it makes it easier to not do X tonight at all

Virtue is good, it really is. BUT people can become smug or judgmental about it. You (general you) have to be careful of that.

This is something I'm struggling with as I attempt to change my diet to help control my high blood pressure as well as getting out the door on time so that I'm not late to my new job. If I cook for us and pick healthy ingredients and don't use salt in my dishes, I'm being virtuous. If I end up eating some of the fatty bits clinging to the chicken, I'm not being virtuous.

Same thing with finances. My boyfriend and I wiped out our savings moving in together (because of a broker's fee and buying a ton of new furniture) and I have to be virtuous about sticking to my budget more than ever. Especially since we're flying together to California for the holidays and I'm going to do the adult thing and not crash with my parents for half of the trip. This means paying for a car rental and a hotel, and also saving more money to do these things.

Had I known earlier that being more responsible for your physical and mental health could be so sucky when you're playing catch-up, I would have done something about this long ago.

people can become smug or judgmental about it. You (general you) have to be careful of that.

And that is a vice! This is something that you see people just agonizing about in their eighteenth-century journals. Am I becoming too proud in my virtuousness? The sin of pride, ack!

I'm pretty into old-fashioned values too. Since I was a teenager when this came out, though, I get wary of talking about them for fear of being mistaken for a regressive conservative. Anyway, I am big on Perseverance and Humility but lately am focusing on trying to encourage more Compassion in myself.