This blog is an article for the Together Paper of Wagga Wagga Diocese August Edition.
Some consider a decisive person to be the one who can make quick, sharp decisions.
Others consider a decisive person to be the one who has taken considerable time to weigh
up each option. Decisiveness has less to do with how long someone takes to decide and
more to do with the ability to bring deliberation to an end and make a choice.
Growth in decisiveness isn’t measured by decision-making speed, but by whether deciding is
increasing our freedom to move to the next thing. This freedom hinges on the strengths of
two cardinal virtues: prudence and fortitude.
Prudence is the moral virtue that ‘disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every
circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it’ (CCC 1806) – often referred to
as the charioteer of the virtues – because it guides the path of the other virtues by putting
right reason to action. It’s a kind of practical wisdom required in any form of decision making.
This virtue helps us use our experience and knowledge to determine our next step.
Years ago, Fr Mike Schmitz offered a 4-part process: Goodness, Available/Open, Wise,
Desired/Wanted.
Goodness: Is this choice good? Is it moral?
Availability: is this a genuine option or something I wish were an option, is it available to
me? Is this a door that is open for me to walk through?
Wise: Given what I know of myself, my vocation, circumstances, is this a wise choice? Does
it align with my values?
Desire: do I want this? Is it something that makes me feel excited, peaceful, calm, satisfied?
Does it move me in some way?
There comes a point when discernment has given us what we reasonably need and a choice
must be made. This is when we rely on the strength of another moral virtue; fortitude.
Fortitude ‘ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good’
(CCC1808). Prudence can tell us which the right way is to move and to help us move in that
direction, but when the choice is one that makes us uncomfortable, fortitude helps us take
the leap when that choice is uncomfortable and stay the course when obstacles or more
enticing alternatives appear.
A difficulty doesn’t necessarily mean the decision needs to be re-evaluated. What matters is
whether something relevant has changed or become clearer. If I accept a new job and then
begin to feel nervous or uncertain about starting, that discomfort alone doesn’t mean the
decision was wrong. If the employer now tells me that the role has substantially changed,
now I have new information that wasn’t previously available to me and may warrant
reconsideration. Decisiveness is not stubbornness; prudence remains vital.
Mary gives us a wonderful example of how prudence and fortitude work together in her
decisiveness. When the Angel invites her to be the mother of Jesus, she exercises prudence
in asking the question ‘How can this be?’. She asks, listens and receives what she needs.
Then comes her decisive moment. She does not know everything her yes will entail, but she
has received enough to freely give her fiat.
The fortitude needed to give that yes is also required to live it. Through all that follows from
birth to the foot of the cross, Mary remains faithful to the ‘Yes’ that she freely gave. The
difficulties she faced does not mean her decision was wrong.
Decisiveness doesn’t require of us to know what lies ahead, nor does making a good
decision shield us from future discomfort. It requires the prudence to discern the good, the
fortitude to choose it when doing so is uncomfortable, and the freedom to act on that choice
without continually reopening it simply because difficulties arise. Like all virtues,
decisiveness is strengthened over time as we repeatedly practice discerning, choosing and
acting on the good.
This intentional growth in virtue has been at the heart of the Inaugural Grace & Virtue
Formation Program, as participants have intentionally invested in their formation, discovered
more of their gifts and taken action to move towards placing their gifts to the service of their
parishes and communities. As the program draws to a close, we warmly invite you to join us
in celebrating its fruits, alongside another significant milestone – 10 years of Virtue Ministry –
at our end-of-program celebration and fundraiser dinner. On 10th October, come and
celebrate our inaugural participants at the Grace & Virtue Dinner in partnership with the
Nature & Grace Committee, hear from an inspiring guest speaker, bid on an auction item,
look back on a decade of Virtue Ministry, and support what is still to come.
By tickets via Trybooking link: https://www.trybooking.com/DOPKH
Written by Stina Constantine
Founder & Speaker at Virtue Ministry