Reflective Essay Example: Relationship Between Reason and Desires

While desires will only feel good in the moment, desires are an in-the-moment feeling while reasoning lasts longer with more benefits. Though desires seem tempting in the moment, they never last in value, in fact they can lead to regret at times if it is a desire with no good purpose or reason, for example: robbing someone will lead to getting arrested and being put in jail. Reason is distinct and much different that reason, reasoning leads to making logical decisions rather than making choices based on what the heart commands someone to do, as reason is more logical, it can also lead to less evil in the world. Desires are destructive, as Aquinas had taught, both ignorance and emotion are the reasons the natural law is violated, in the case of reason being above obeying a desire, following reason obeys the natural law unlike obeying a desire which violates the natural law in terms of emotion and at times ignorance as well. Obeying desires not only lead to self-destruction but also draws the person away from their life purpose, whether it be helping in a community of people or only one person. 

Gratification of desires does not last, they are fleeting. In the same essence as time, desire’s are also fleeting and are only there for a moment, but the difference is that desire never ends while time is only here for its designated time. According to Google, a desire is to strongly wish or want something. Desire comes back as much as it wants unless the person develops self-discipline in what is right and in what is wrong, not giving in to a bad desire such as stealing from someone or manipulating someone to gain something only for your benefit. In these cases, continuously being determined to fulfill the desires of your heart is not the way to live unless the desire will benefit others and the desire can be fulfilled in a healthy and orderly way. For example, if a businessman is rich and has a desire to build an apartment building to house the homeless and does everything he can that is both legal and honest with sincerity then this is a desire that truly is good. However, if a rich businessman would rather keep his money closeby or store it in a vault, only to use it manipulate people into doing things for money, then this is an evil desire; instead of caring for people he would rather bribe them into doing things for him, possibly even knowing if the person has a bad financial situation.

Reasoning is distinctive of human kind because the world we live in is full of chasing both dreams and desires. This distinction is based on the seven basic goods, for example we know we must preserve life rather than kill and take it away from someone, this is an example of reasoning. Reasoning is distinctive because though humans are driven by logic and reasoning, the rest of the earth’s species are driven by instinct, they try to scare away an unknown animal/person, thinking of them as an attacker instantly, while humans observe what we see and act upon what we think must be done. According to Google, reason is to think, understand, and form judgements by a process of logic. Reasoning is essential to life, it makes humans understand what is truly beneficial to us versus acting upon instinct and doing whatever the heart pleases, for the heart deceives people and tricks them into following through will illogical decisions rather than following through with something that will actually be reasonable and helpful in the long run, even if it helps in years from the time the specific decision was made. Being logical and reasonable versus following a desire is the root of a person's end and their good.

Following through with foundationless desires are self destructive and draw away from the life purpose one is sought to follow in life. Desires are destructive not only to those around the person but to the person himself. Desire is having no self-discipline on the important and productive things in life, throwing it all away for following through with an in-the-moment wanting. Following through with desires can lead to someone losing who they are meant to be in life based on the events. Whether it be a desire to gamble or a desire to gain something by manipulating someone's emotions it is all evil, useless, and destructive in the end no matter how big or little the destruction may be. Self-discipline is key to defeating evil desires, being truthful in all that is done in the life of the individual and doing everything for many more benefits instead of consequences, defeating giving in to desire is key not only to being successful in life but also to finding what the true purpose in someone’s life is. A life purpose is important, it gives value to a person's life instead of feeling as though it’s being wasted away for an unknown reason. All people have their lifes’ purpose revealed to them at different times in their lives, whether 15 years old to even 50 years old, and self-discipline is the fastest and most effective way to discover this purpose. 

Some desire’s can have benefits that overpower reason, such as doing good deeds which are beneficial to society instead of evil deeds which are destructive and hold consequences and destruction within them. Not all desire’s are bad, but emotion led desires that are in-the-moment thought instead of thought of in terms of overtime effects are dangerous. Some may say, “desire’s are just a part of human nature, it’s not bad to follow what your heart wants”. That may be so but if the soul isn’t at peace then how will someone be able to prosper in life? As Aristotle taught, “The soul is the first actuality of a natural body that is potentially alive”, there is no true peace within someone if the soul is not taken care of. We live in a dream-chasing world, we are told to “follow dreams”, “chase your aspirations”, but some people chase a destiny that isn’t meant for them, in simple terms it leads them away from the true life purpose they were sought to fulfill during their time on earth. Many people follow the rules of the world in order to achieve what they desire, but many people have desire’s that will end up not being part of their life purpose at all. 

When the soul is at peace, then many things that were once invisible are now visible to the human eye. When the soul is lost and confused on what life is meant for, the soul searches for peace in destructive things such as endlessly staying on a phone, eating too much, partying too much, and sadly even turning to drugs for true happiness when in the darkness, whether it be in depression or confusion on the meaning and basis on how life is meant to be lived. Finding joy in destructive things, even something that seems as little as gossip, will lead to a destructive lifestyle, and then a destructive life which can most likely affect family members and close friends. Moving on from this takes determination and devotion to becoming a better person, starting with making small goals like making time limits on your phone and trying to speak good about people rather than speaking fouly about them. Small habits can lead to big changes which can lead to a healthier lifestyle. When having a healthier lifestyle, the mindset of the individual will change, they can go from first wanting to rob and steal to giving to the needy and poor. This is when having good desires come into the heart of the individual, when this is the case then a life purpose will form within the soul, the soul does not focus on destruction anymore, but on fruitful things that will benefit those around them. The soul searches in destructive places because it will do anything in order to find satisfaction and peace, but it will never be found in places of evil and destruction. As evil craves destruction, so it is that good creates construction.