Character as Engraving

When you think of "character" you think of something firm, something stable, don't you? The word Kierkegaard uses (in his "The Present Age") is "engraved." (Character is derived from the Greek word for engraving.)

Morality is character, character is that which is engraved; but the sand and the sea have no character and neither has abstract intelligence, for character is really inwardness. Immorality, as energy, is also character; but to be neither moral nor immoral is merely ambiguous . . .

The sand and the sea don't take an impression, or at any rate one that lasts. Neither do we unless we in spirit maintain "the distance separating a thing from its opposite in quality." 

The spiritual maintenance of the separation between good and bad, otherwise known as self-mastery, takes "relentless practice" in saying no to vice and weakness and yes to what you often don't want to do but know you must. (Philip Rieff)  This is the stuff real resolutions are made of, of resolution that, in practice, marks us with virtuous habits.  Good luck with your 2013 plan of action.  Don't let any sissy-stuff keep you down!  Rather, ask for help from friends, heavenly and here on earth.

Make a difference in 2013.  Make a mark.  Show some resolve. Etch a character for yourself.