So, we’ve all got our “chicken”—the good thing that, like Brother Reynard the Fox, we are prone to indulge in, to enjoy too much.  And one way to avoid such indulgence is to refrain from these things entirely.  But that is actually called abstinence, not temperance.  For some, that may be required.  But for Temperance, we must ask: How do I become the kind of person who can enjoy candy, but just a piece or two and not ten; or watch television for thirty minutes, but not three hours.  How can we develop the strength to stop before moderation turns to excess?

Aristotle said that “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

All virtue, and Temperance in particular, must be developed through practice.  And that practice is actually quite simple…even if it’s not easy.  It is the practice of self-denial.  Take anything you enjoy—even if it’s not your “chicken”—and the next time you desire to have it…say “no” to yourself.  I want to play a video game…this time I won’t; I want a piece of Laffy Taffy, but I’ll wait ‘til tomorrow; I want to swing at recess, but this time I’ll do something else; I want that book on Amazon right now…but this time, I’ll wait.  Your self-control is like a muscle—the more you use it, even when you’re not prone to indulge, the stronger it will be when you really need it.  And if you don’t use it, it atrophies.

So, don’t wait to start.  Don’t think that you can begin practicing self-control…tomorrow.  Because here’s the thing: You’re practicing either self-indulgence or self-control all day every day, whether you realize it or not.  You’re building habits with every decision you make, with every action you take.

That’s why Aristotle didn’t just recognize that excellence is a habit; he also knew that “[g]ood habits formed at youth make all the difference.”  The older you become, the harder it gets…trust me.  So, practice Temperance—and do it now.