{"id":4931,"date":"2016-08-17T12:00:42","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T16:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/?p=4931"},"modified":"2016-08-16T20:18:49","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T00:18:49","slug":"how-character-is-built","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2016\/08\/how-character-is-built.html","title":{"rendered":"How Character is Built"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question:<\/strong> Do we develop character by working to eliminate bad habits, or is it only by creating good habits in the first place that character is built?<\/p>\n

Answer:<\/strong> Here is a short poem: \u201cThoughts turn to acts and habits are born; from habits the shape of character is formed.\u201d We drop self-defeating behavior by coming awake to the fact that each negative act to which we give our life is first a bit of life stolen from us. It is not well understood, but before it is possible to defeat ourselves, we are in unconscious relationship with a defeated nature that is not our own. By working to be awake to ourselves in the moment, our awareness of these destructive energies permits us to actually experience their dark nature before that nature has a chance to deceive us. And how does it deceive us? With its promise of relief from the very pain its presence within us has produced! Once you can see this truth, you will also see that all self-defeating acts are the effects of our unawareness. Awareness ends this downhill relationship and sets us upon the Upper Path where our developing True Character ensures that our dark days are put behind us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Do we develop character by working to eliminate bad habits, or is it only by creating good habits in the first place that character is built? Answer: Here is a short poem: \u201cThoughts turn to acts and habits are born; from habits the shape of character is formed.\u201d We drop self-defeating behavior by coming…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":232,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[672,26],"tags":[349,2548,1050,2550,1166,2549],"class_list":["post-4931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-changetransformation","category-family-raising-children","tag-bad-habits","tag-building-character","tag-character","tag-creating-good-habits","tag-education","tag-moral-training"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Character is Built - Letting Go with Guy Finley<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2016\/08\/how-character-is-built.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Character is Built - Letting Go with Guy Finley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: Do we develop character by working to eliminate bad habits, or is it only by creating good habits in the first place that character is built? Answer: Here is a short poem: \u201cThoughts turn to acts and habits are born; from habits the shape of character is formed.\u201d We drop self-defeating behavior by coming…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2016\/08\/how-character-is-built.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Letting Go with Guy Finley\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Guy-Finley-260924340633\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-17T16:00:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-08-17T00:18:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Guy Finley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@guy_finley\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Character is Built - Letting Go with Guy Finley","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lettinggo\/2016\/08\/how-character-is-built.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Character is Built - Letting Go with Guy Finley","og_description":"Question: Do we develop character by working to eliminate bad habits, or is it only by creating good habits in the first place that character is built? 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His ideas cut straight to the heart of our most important personal and social issues - relationships, success, addiction, stress, peace, happiness, freedom - and lead the way to a higher life. Finley is the Founder and Director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit Center for Spiritual Discovery. He is the acclaimed author of \"The Secret of Letting Go\" and more than 45 other books and audio programs that have sold over two million copies in 26 languages worldwide. His work is widely endorsed by doctors, business professionals, celebrities, and religious leaders of all denominations. Through Life of Learning Foundation, Guy has presented over 5,000 unique self-realization seminars to thousands of grateful students throughout North America and Europe over the past 20 years and has been a guest on over 700 television and radio shows, including national appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and NPR. 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