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| FDR |
I
do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but
what I hate I do. (Romans 7:15 NIV)
Following
is a possible enemies list that can apply to all of us. It is clear
that many possible missteps and debatable issues lie in wait.
- Too much or too little ambition
- Too much or too little conviction
- Too much or too little idealism
- Too much or too little realism
- Too much focus or too little focus
- Too much or too little sentimentality
- Too much or too little skepticism – cynicism
- Too much or too little prosperity
- Too much or too little religion/religiosity
- Too much or too little reliance on God
- Too much or too little hope
- Too much or too little self-confidence
- Too much or too little independence
- Too much or too little reliance on others
- Too much or too little self-reliance
- Too much or too little reliance on government
- Too much or too little vulnerability
- Too many or too few choices
- Too much or too little sensitivity
- Too much or too little yearning for perfection
- Too much or too little yearning for harmony
- Too much or too little yearning for nobility
- Too much or too little self-criticism
- Too much or too little criticism and judgment of others
- Too much or too little self blame
- Too much or too little blaming others
- Too much or too little rebellion and discontent
- Too much or too little acquiescence and complacency
- Too much or too little concern with the passage of time and mortality
- Too much or too little tolerance
- Too much or too little trust
- Too much or too little love
- Too much or too little thriftiness
- Too much or too little generosity
- Too much or too little faith
- Too much or too little eloquence/plain speaking
- Too much action too little thought
- Too much thought too little action
- Too much courage too little caution
- Too much honesty too little compassion
- Too much compassion too little encouragement of self-reliance
- Too much or too little belief in miracles
- Too much or too little trust in force
- Too much or too little trust in perceptual shifts
- Too much or too little regard for the effectiveness of armaments
- Too much or too little compromise and accommodation of the opposition
- Too much indulgence not enough discipline
- Too much discipline too little leniency
- Too much neglect or too much fussiness
- Too much flexibility or too much rigidity
- Too much discipline not enough freedom
- Too much freedom not enough discipline
- Too much subjectivity not enough objectivity
- Too much objectivity not enough subjectivity
- Too much shortsightedness not enough long sightedness
- Too much long sightedness not enough shortsightedness
- Too much concerned with reputation and status
- Too little concerned over reputation and status
- Too indulgent versus too tolerant
- Too worldly versus too spiritual
- Too dogmatic versus too unprincipled
- Too much concerned with precedence versus too little concern with precedence
- Too much concerned with justice too little concerned with mercy
- Too much concerned with mercy too little concerned with justice
- Too much concerned with efficiency too little concerned with effectiveness
- Too much concerned with effectiveness too little concerned with efficiency
- Too much concerned with balance not enough concern for purity
- Too much concerned with purity insufficient concern for balance
- Too much concerned with security too little acceptance of risk
- Too much acceptance of risk not enough concerned with security
- Too much concerned with means not enough concern about ends
- Too much concerned with ends not enough concern about means
- Too much concerned with self-interest and not enough concern with sharing
- Too much concerned with sharing not enough concerned with self-interest
- Too much concerned about what others think and too little concerned about one's own positional integrity
- Too much concern about tradition not enough concerned about originality
- Too much concern about originality not enough concerned about tradition
- Too much concern about history not of concern about the present
- Too much concerned about the present not enough concerned about history
- Two little concern about values too much concern about “facts”
- Too much concern about “facts” to little concerned about values
- Too much concerned about relational integrity and not enough concerned about personal integrity
- Too much concerned about personal integrity and not enough concerned about relational integrity
Such
a listing provides a glimpse of the complexities that face humanity.
There is little wonder that we sometimes weave a tangled web, and
that the political seasons that treat many of these issues come upon
us with regularity. In fact, it can be asserted that on a personal
level (about our own constitution and not that of society at large)
we need more “inward politics” not less—more internal
discussion and debate and the resultant heightened insights that can come from self-evaluation, consideration, and introspection.
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