Who Controls You?

Illustration by The Epoch Times, Shutterstock

Health Viewpoints

There may be no trait more important to a dignified human life than self-control—and never have the forces working to weaken it been so powerful.

We are beset by easy pleasures. Our better intentions are constantly beguiled by over-stimulating satisfactions like engineered foods, social media, and “entertainments” built to be addictive by the most powerful technologies of our time.

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Even our medicines have become more addictive. The opioid crisis was manufactured, after all.

But for every attempt to pry reason from our actions grows a deeper wish in us for the freedom that comes from conquering our compulsions. Never has there been a better time to revisit the wisdom our ancestors passed down about self-control.

Self-control was something we once learned, writes Dennis Prager.

“Who is strong? The one who conquers his urges,” he recounts from a poster hanging on the walls of his Jewish elementary school.

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Self-control isn’t the purview of Judaism, it is the hallmark of every upright spiritual tradition and was once a foundational element of every child’s education.

Self-control was once the hallmark of someone worthy of esteem. Now we tell children they should have self-esteem regardless of any measure of their character.

“Even traditional American public schools—up until the mid-20th century—emphasized self-control, not self-esteem. And Christian schools always emphasized humility—virtually the opposite of unearned self-esteem,” writes Mr. Prager.

Our education often becomes the foundation of our thinking, and our thinking becomes the foundation of our habits. Without being educated about self-control, we are far less likely to form the habit of exercising it.

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This crucial point was one of the first things children learned in China before the communist revolution left the culture denatured and twisted. All children learned from the “Three Character Classic,” a simple text of common Chinese characters that taught them traditional culture and history.

It begins:

People at birth,

are naturally good.

Their natures are similar;

their habits become different.

Habits come in all shades, from rejuvenating habits like rising to meet the morning sun to depleting habits like surrendering ourselves to the couch for a nightly bout with the television.

Self-control lets us form habits like eating well and exercising. Without self-control, our habits will stray toward easy indulgences, which can easily lead to addiction.

Compulsive gamblers who hid staggering losses from loved ones share that their “habit” came as a relief from difficult feelings.

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Such habits can ruin us. They are the substance of vice. Gamblers, for instance, have dramatically higher rates of suicide than the general population.

It is never too late to regain the dignity of self-control. Many regain it through 12-step programs like Alcoholics Anonymous that begin by acknowledging the loss of self-control and the existence of a higher power.

Self-control can open the world to us, and let us choose what to make of ourselves, an idea captured in bygone books like “The Kingship of Self-Control,” by William George Jordan, first published in 1898.

“Man has two creators—his God and himself. His first creator furnishes him the raw material of his life and the laws in conformity with which he can make that life what he will. His second creator—himself—has marvelous powers he rarely realizes. It is what a man makes of himself that counts,” writes Jordan.

Self-control is like a muscle we strengthen over time, a muscle that lets us build a life from our best intentions. It isn’t easy, but it may be the most rewarding and important thing any human can do.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.