“I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.”§
Charles Dickens§
Diligence means performing tasks thoroughly and with careful, earnest, steady effort. I strengthen diligence when I do my best in vigorously completing any work or instruction. The opposite is halfheartedness.§
Comparing the actions of one who is diligent to one who is halfhearted§ |
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|---|---|---|
Situation§ |
Diligence§ |
Halfheartedness§ |
When given instructions for a new project at school, you…§ |
take on the task with interest, energy and keen intent on completion.§ |
think how you can do the minimum without exerting yourself too much.§ |
Inspired by a new hobby of puzzle solving, you…§ |
vigorously move forward, meeting each challenge and overcoming it.§ |
start out with enthusiasm, which soon wanes as you encounter difficulties.§ |
When distractions arise, you…§ |
tune them out and stay focused on the task at hand.§ |
welcome them as an interesting diversion from your work.§ |
Gurudeva explained: “Hard work, diligence and perseverance in religious practices will be found as the spiritual foundation in the lives of all the world’s great saints.”§
“Meditation is essentially work, good hard work, and you should be willing to work and expend energy so that you can meditate.”§
“One must look at spiritual unfoldment in the same way one approaches the study of a fine art. If you were studying the vina with a very accomplished teacher, he would not appreciate it at all if you went to three or four other teachers at the same time for study behind his back. He demands that you come and go from your lesson and practice diligently in between.”§
ASSIGNMENT: In the next two weeks, find three opportunities to respond to a task with a level of energy higher than you normally exert. Observe your mood as you complete the tasks with earnestness and steady effort.§
Date you began this assignment ____________________§
MY THOUGHTS ON THE BENEFITS OF DILIGENCE: 
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