You Need to Be Lifemaxxing
A counterintuitive approach to living virtuously.
The world our Lord created is so incredibly beautiful that I often wonder how it’s even possible for so many to despise existence or, what’s more common, to approach it apathetically, failing to see the wonders of even the most common life.
We’ve become so incredibly preoccupied by trying to accomplish mundane goals that the true meaning of life passes right in front of us, and we are so hypnotized by worldly pressures that we don’t even see it. It is true that there are dark powers that seek to drive us into a sterile life devoid of purpose, but paradoxically, the powers that feel so strong and which we so easily allow to enslave us are in reality so incredibly weak that a mere moment of enlightenment and a simple choice to live life differently is enough to defeat them.
How different would the world be if we all made it our mission to live richly, to truly approach each day with a joyful spirit, to see the beauty in the chaos, and find even in the struggle shades of the perfection that’s to come?
Not only would we get rid of the crushing weight of our own arbitrary demands, but we would also make significant, almost involuntary progress towards developing virtue.
When you make a choice to focus on the good things in life, you are suddenly free to enjoy the many licit pleasures this world offers, without needing to find their counterfeit versions in the dark embrace of sin.
A man who lives a rich life, full of beauty, worthy struggles, and loving relationships will naturally start moving away from sin, because sin loses its power when you love the life you’re living.
Sin, in essence, offers an escape and promises—falsely— the fulfillment of an unfulfilled longing of your heart.
If your heart is full with beauty and life, perhaps the temptation to sin will still be there, but it will lose a lot of its appeal. A man who has a lot to live for will have reasons to resist sin and to avoid the inescapable negative consequences of it. X user Angelo Romano recently posted a very clear example of this:
His post was mostly focused on having hobbies and licit passions that you enjoy and that cultivate virtue in order to more easily avoid sexual sin, but we can extrapolate his point and arrive at a broader conclusion: by filling your life with beauty and with the licit, ordered pleasures God has created, you can strengthen your soul against the temptations of the enemy.
Sin is often strongest against an idle mind. Boredom, apathy, and acedia all contribute to sinful behaviors, because an empty mind will be more easily drawn towards the “pleasure” that sin offers. In contrast, a mind preoccupied with exciting, good, virtuous pursuits and pleasures will not feel the need to pursue the illicit pleasures of sin. Romano continues:
Lifemaxxing —the intentional enjoyment of all the good things this world offers— is your antidote against the apathy that leaves you hollow and seeking the false fulfillment of sin.
Now, this does not mean that all of those who choose to go through life with a spirit of righteous enjoyment will avoid all temptations or be completely free from the pull of sin. But living fully, dangerously and beautifully is one of the most powerful tools you can wield against the darkness of sin: when it comes creeping into your life, you’ll have millions of reasons to refuse it. You’ll know how beautiful life is without it, and you’ll be less likely to risk everything for a pleasure that is not just unfulfilling, but illicit and destructive. Your life will be so pleasurable in all the right ways that sin will no longer be as alluring.
Learn to live a life so unbearably beautiful, so rich with all kinds of licit pleasures, so full of good people, so full of sheer enjoyment, that sin becomes as ugly in your view as it actually is, and so that you might reach the end of your days in peace, fully devoted to a life worth living, and with a hopeful spirit, knowing that what’s to come after death is even more wonderful than the beautiful life you built on earth.
Ad Maiora Nati Sumus,
Juan
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Your articles are always a mine of practical wisdom, Juan. Somewhere I had read that St. Thomas Aquinas had also written something like this: man cannot live without joy, otherwise he risks falling into carnal pleasures.
"A man who lives a rich life, full of beauty, worthy struggles, and loving relationships will naturally start moving away from sin, because sin loses its power when you love the life you’re living" because "Sin, in essence, offers an escape and promises—falsely— the fulfillment of an unfulfilled longing of your heart"
Very well put, a good reminder thanks