God’s most lordly gift to man is decency of mind. —Aechylus—
“Decent means appropriate, proper, becoming. Decency of mind means to think appropriate thoughts, to respond properly to events and people, neither exaggerating nor trivializing their importance. What a consolation it must be to have a mind always in balance, always ready to dwell on the good and let the negative aspects go!
It’s possible to achieve such decency. Perhaps it’s a gift from a higher power; but we must be ready ourselves to receive a gift like that. Becoming ready for the gift of a balanced outlook entails work: the work of overcoming our tendencies to, on the one hand, ignore, postpone, and forget unpleasantness, and on the other, to dwell on misfortune until we let it blot out the sun.
Decency is another name for the middle way, the true road. When we achieve decency of mind, we’ll know it by the serenity of our outlook. Obstacles won’t melt, but they will assume their true proportions.
Today I’ll ready myself to receive the gift of a decent mind.