Make Time for Contemplation of the Ideal

Set your heart on heaven to do better work on the earth.

Photo by Camilla Carvalho on Unsplash

Even avid seekers of self-improvement can run into roadblocks. We strive to reach our next level of personal growth. But sometimes we find ourselves reverting to our old ways: to unhealthy diets, dysfunctional family relations, inefficient work habits, etc.

This can be bitterly disappointing and frustrating. We want to do better: to act in closer accord with our own self-standards. But we find ourselves wanting other things, too. We crave that extra serving. We want to vent at our loved ones. We are tempted to procrastinate on that difficult but important project.

And in the heat of the moment, we too often choose the more pleasant, more comfortable, more familiar option in violation of our own ideals and best interests—much to our later regret.

How do we guard against such backsliding? How do we gird ourselves against the siren call of our bad habits? How do get ourselves to choose the better over the easier?

Ultimately, it comes down to wanting it more. We need to instill in ourselves a longing for the ideal so that, in the moment of truth, our love for the better overpowers our urge for the easier.

One way to cultivate a love for the ideal is by contemplating the ideal. Contemplation makes the heart grow fonder. When we contemplate our highest convictions, our deepest purposes, and our most cherished objectives, we reinforce those values in our memories and consciences, making it more likely that they will vividly come to mind and guide our conduct whenever we are faced with related decisions.

There are many ways to contemplate the ideal.

We can study material that articulates and/or exemplifies the ideal. We can read holy scripture, wisdom literature, genuinely profound self-help books, and heroic stories, whether biographical or fictional. If we surround ourselves with admirable people, we can study their conduct as well. And in a symbolic sense, we can contemplate the ideal through art (architecture, sculpture, painting, music, etc.) that manifests the divine.

We can also reflect on the ideal. That can be done through prayer, journaling, discussion, or just thinking in one’s head on a walk about our highest convictions, deepest purposes, most cherished objectives, etc.

We can reflect on the ideal in purely abstract terms. But to truly bring the ideal to life, we also must reflect upon how our actual conduct measures up to it. Through prayer, journaling, and sharing with others, we can confess our sins and celebrate our moral wins. We can then make resolutions and plans to better live up to our standards in the future.

People often think that such contemplative, devotional, and worshipful practices take up time that would be better spent on getting more things done. But if we are not grounded and oriented properly, we end up spinning our wheels or going full speed in the wrong direction.

To get meaningful things done properly, we must regularly shift our focus from the granular to the grand, from the real to the ideal, from the mundane to the lofty, from Earth to Heaven. Then, when we zoom back in on our worldly work, we will be primed to perform it properly. Our hearts will be more set on the ideal, so, in the heat of the moment and in the thick of temptation, we will be more inclined to choose the better option over the easier one.

Jesus Christ taught his followers to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30 KJV) and to “seek ye first the kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33 KJV). And the Apostle Paul counseled Christians to "Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:2 KJV)

These are not injunctions to neglect the things of the earth. Rather, they show us how to better attend to our worldly affairs by regarding them with the proper perspective: by not “loving” things of the earth in the sense of idolizing or fetishizing them. If instead we set our affection on things above, we can better set our attention on things below. If, through regular contemplative, devotional, and worshipful practices, we set our hearts on things of heaven, throughout the rest of the day we will be able to set our minds, eyes, and hands on things of the earth with more purpose, clarity, and discipline.

As Jordan B. Peterson advised in his book 12 Rules for Life:

Aim high. Set your sights on the betterment of Being. Align yourself, in your soul, with Truth and the Highest Good. (…)

Orient yourself properly. Then—and only then—concentrate on the day. Set your sights at the Good, the Beautiful, and the True, and then focus pointedly and carefully on the concerns of each moment. Aim continually at Heaven while you work diligently on Earth. (…)

Aim for Paradise, and concentrate on today.