consistent In what?

I'm thinking now that being consistent is a quality that is secondary to many other qualities. I don't mean secondary in the sense that it is less important, I mean secondary in that other qualities come first, and then consistency acts upon them. Consistency is dependent upon the qualities an individual already has - if you're consistently mean, I don't think consistency counts for much.

In this way, the underlying qualities become all the more important, just as they are if we weren't considering consistency first. The reason consistency stands out as being so important is that many people have many good qualities, but in lacking consistency they lack a real force behind making their good qualities count. Honesty, diligence, excellence, are all good qualities that many people have in abundance. But at times, here and there, and when the going gets tough, sometimes these qualities fall to the wayside. And so that's where consistency comes in and is all important. It's the glue that turns good qualities into a good life.

Our farm still lacks consistency, but we still do many things right. That's why consistency stands out as the primary thing missing. But when I think about myself, not only am I not consistent, but I find many other aspects of my life that need work. Activity is one. I came to the end of the day today overwhelmed with all the challenges facing the farm, but realized I didn't do much at all to tackle them. I need to simply be doing more, then doing more consistently. When I read, I need to read higher quality items, better books and articles. But then I need to do that consistently. Being consistent is the name of the game only if you're consistent in the good and admirable things of life.