As humans grow in knowledge, wisdom and age, it becomes a necessity and a need for humans to posses some valuable traits which will aid us in exercising control over every aspect of our lives, building a reputable reputation and in order to act accordingly at the appropriate time. According to Descartes and Aristotle perspective of the dualism nature of every humans, which establish that the composition of every human is made of two components, the body and the mind ("mind" also considered as the soul in some part of the theory of dualism) the mind being the central processing unit of every human just like the computer.
It is empowered with the function of overseeing human conduct, which dictates humans values, personality, thoughts and the behavioural pattern of every human. to an extent it has more control over human conduct than humans themselves because some factors and variables exist deep down in our subconscious which exist outside the bounds of human control in most cases, it sounds complex, it is considered the inner self that calls the shot. Every act or action taken by any human has passed through the mind before it manifest physically.
To an extent it can be deduced that every human valuable traits manifest from the mind. For anyone to exercise control over the conduct of their lives and navigate it instead of the mind freely dictating our thoughts and choices, also build a reputable image in the society and be recognised for such attributes, the following three core valuable traits must be possessed.
It is the ability of an individual or person to mange and control his/her emotions, thoughts and behavioural pattern. it enables an individual to work towards obtaining and achieving set goals and overcoming temptations and act of procrastination which can hinder human development and growth in the social sphere.
self discipline enhances humans ability to influence their state of mind, though the mind still dictates but a human with self discipline has the privilege to write the script which the mind will be forced to act upon, just like the way some humans naturally exhibit qualities such as honesty, integrity, consistency e.t.c it is because such individual has trained his/her mind to act in that order, which in return becomes an attitude that naturally manifest in human subconscious. In the case of mentally unstable individuals, it can not really be said that they are acting in ways they don't want to or being forced to exhibit such behavioural pattern but the issue is that they are no longer conscious of their actions and given up all control of their physical and psychological actions to the mind to act at will, like a psychological prison created by humans themselves but navigated by the mind.
Based on my opinionated perspective, a human who lacks the virtue of self-discipline, such human shares the same similarities with a mentally unstable individuals because such person or persons can't be expected to act appropriately, due to their inability to control their emotions, desire, lust e.tc such person without self discipline will eventually become a danger to the rest of humans in the society, an endangerment to the world at large.
Overtime a person without self discipline tends to exhibit negative behaviour such as Addiction (to substance such as drugs, alcohol or sex, which can lead to being a rapist, alcoholic or a serial killer in worst case scenarios due to being under the influence of drugs or alcohol) And OBSESSION ( an individual that lacks self control can become obsessed with power, authority, ambition, money e.t.c willing to go to extra length to be in possession of these things will endanger others in the society, imagine such a person in a position of power, we all know how that goes).
Honesty is the act of being honest, which means ability of an individual or person to be truthful. while integrity on the other is a human attribute that involves being morally and ethically inclined. A person that poses integrity can is known to be of moral conduct, to an extent it can be considered an abstract of self discipline but the fact that an individual has self discipline does not really guarantee that he/she would be honest or have integrity, the reverse is different, if an individual is not self disciplined he/she can never poses any kind of human value because it takes an amount of self control to imitate this values which over time will become a personality.
in this present generation this two valuable traits is slowly disappearing because it is becoming more difficult to see an individual who is honest not to talk of being faithful. this is why we have a lot of lapses in government and relationships. it is easier to associate with anyone that poses integrity and honesty but in the absence of this two all we have is doubts. from doubts which will later lead to misunderstanding and conflict simultaneously. which means we can not have an healthy society without trust and trust can only be ensured when people are honest with each other.
this is a valuable trait that involves being loyal, which involves being supportive of others, working towards achieving the same goal with others without any sense of doubt but it is tricky because for a human to be loyal towards another or a country, such person needs to have sense of responsibility, there goals needs to align and they must have acquired each others trust over time.
Loyalty might not seem like much but it is the backbone of every country, society and relationships. anything that has to do with coexisting with another person it must involve loyalty. without loyalty all we have is betrayal and traitors who would hurt anyone to achieve their selfish desires, so what kind of society could be built by selfish and disloyal individuals? for humans to have any meaningful relationship with anyone, there is need to be loyal towards that person by trusting each other to do the right thing.
In conclusion
In case you have not noticed this three valuable human traits listed above goes hand in hand, if you don't have one of it you can't poses the rest. that is what makes it important and necessary quality every human must have, which can only be achieved when we train our minds to act in line with this three valuable traits.
This write-up was inspired by weekly prompt in hive Naija community.
