The Virtue of Longanimity in Work
Are you familiar with the virtue of "longanimity?" I wasn't until I read Working Your Way into Heaven by Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski. So what is longanimity?
"Longanimity is the virtue of forebearance or long-suffering. In a word, it appears in the the company of the virtues that avoid disorder, inner disturbance, or dissipation."
Patience, which we considered in our last post, deals with more immediate concerns. Longanimity, on the other hand, specifically addresses that which requires much time and effort. Put simply, it helps us pursue distant goals by overcoming the various obstacles and disappointments that might cause us to give up.
When I started my small business, I had no assurance that it would succeed. After all, most small businesses don't. In addition, I didn't consider myself particularly successful in achieving various goals I set in my life. And I certainly had no substantial experience or qualifications when it came to running a business. I didn't realize it at the time, but the virtue of longanimity proved most helpful in sustaining my halting initial efforts to start my business. Once things got off the ground, it continued to support my ongoing struggles to get the business on an even keel. My own experience confirms this description of how longaninity interacts with our work:
"Almost every sort of work consists of a series of acts, of tiny acts performed in succession, which together build up a new good. There must exist a certain plan in this process, to unite the separate acts; there must also be the inevitable pause between one act and another, and between different groups of acts. All of this creates the whole technique of work, with its own strict and binding rules. And it is the virtue of longanmity that brings our will into conformity with the laws and techniques of work."
As a "one man show" (at least at first), I had to juggle long-term objectives, short-term deadlines, and various unexpected crises. Providing professional services entails study and research, never mind required continuing education courses. As a businessman, I had to learn how to efficiently organize files for quick access, develop and maintain an administrative system to record and track various tasks, bookkeeping, tax compliance functions and...well, you get the point. In dealing with all these moving parts, you have to know not only how and when to act swiftly and decisively, but also, most importantly when to slow things down to a more deliberate pace.
"...we need an intelligent, balanced, distribution of strength. We must not waste it by the crazy speed with which we start work; we have to conserve it to the end."
And if we aspire to work for the greater glory of God, we will naturally find ourselves repeating "Not my will but Thine be done." With this prayer in mind, Cardinal Wyszynski reminds us:
"The human will carries us away, but God's will encourages us to moderation."
By God's grace, the challenges of running a small business have helped me to recognize the importance of incorporating time for prayer and moments or recollection in my work day. Doing so acts as a an occasional break and steady anchor, without which I can easily be bounced back and forth, up and down, always reacting to that deluge of demands that comes with a small business.
The virtue of longanimity serves to remind us to not only keep at our work, but to keep God involved in our work throughout even our busiest days. Not only will this enhance our spiritual life, but it provides a critical practical benefit:
"Longanimity keeps us from hasty, shoddy work."
In my previous employment, quality was frequently sacrificed to expediency and the bottom line. I was determined not to allow the desire for "success" to ever cause my work to be anything less than first-rate both for my clients and for the greater glory of God. If I've come anywhere near to meeting that expectation, it's been in no small part due to the virtue of longanimity.
"Longanimity is the virtue of forebearance or long-suffering. In a word, it appears in the the company of the virtues that avoid disorder, inner disturbance, or dissipation."
Patience, which we considered in our last post, deals with more immediate concerns. Longanimity, on the other hand, specifically addresses that which requires much time and effort. Put simply, it helps us pursue distant goals by overcoming the various obstacles and disappointments that might cause us to give up.
When I started my small business, I had no assurance that it would succeed. After all, most small businesses don't. In addition, I didn't consider myself particularly successful in achieving various goals I set in my life. And I certainly had no substantial experience or qualifications when it came to running a business. I didn't realize it at the time, but the virtue of longanimity proved most helpful in sustaining my halting initial efforts to start my business. Once things got off the ground, it continued to support my ongoing struggles to get the business on an even keel. My own experience confirms this description of how longaninity interacts with our work:
"Almost every sort of work consists of a series of acts, of tiny acts performed in succession, which together build up a new good. There must exist a certain plan in this process, to unite the separate acts; there must also be the inevitable pause between one act and another, and between different groups of acts. All of this creates the whole technique of work, with its own strict and binding rules. And it is the virtue of longanmity that brings our will into conformity with the laws and techniques of work."
As a "one man show" (at least at first), I had to juggle long-term objectives, short-term deadlines, and various unexpected crises. Providing professional services entails study and research, never mind required continuing education courses. As a businessman, I had to learn how to efficiently organize files for quick access, develop and maintain an administrative system to record and track various tasks, bookkeeping, tax compliance functions and...well, you get the point. In dealing with all these moving parts, you have to know not only how and when to act swiftly and decisively, but also, most importantly when to slow things down to a more deliberate pace.
"...we need an intelligent, balanced, distribution of strength. We must not waste it by the crazy speed with which we start work; we have to conserve it to the end."
And if we aspire to work for the greater glory of God, we will naturally find ourselves repeating "Not my will but Thine be done." With this prayer in mind, Cardinal Wyszynski reminds us:
"The human will carries us away, but God's will encourages us to moderation."
By God's grace, the challenges of running a small business have helped me to recognize the importance of incorporating time for prayer and moments or recollection in my work day. Doing so acts as a an occasional break and steady anchor, without which I can easily be bounced back and forth, up and down, always reacting to that deluge of demands that comes with a small business.
The virtue of longanimity serves to remind us to not only keep at our work, but to keep God involved in our work throughout even our busiest days. Not only will this enhance our spiritual life, but it provides a critical practical benefit:
"Longanimity keeps us from hasty, shoddy work."
In my previous employment, quality was frequently sacrificed to expediency and the bottom line. I was determined not to allow the desire for "success" to ever cause my work to be anything less than first-rate both for my clients and for the greater glory of God. If I've come anywhere near to meeting that expectation, it's been in no small part due to the virtue of longanimity.
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