Support The Moscow Times!

Get Off the Couch and Get Over Yourself

Wikicommons

?????µ́?€?????µ: diligence


A while back I decided to do a little project — something like a campaign for self-improvement through Russian culture, or maybe it was getting to know Russian culture through a self-improvement campaign. In any case, I worked my way — linguistically — through ???µ???? ?????µ?€?‚???‹?… ???€?µ?…???? (seven deadly sins), which have entered Russian culture from the Church. Orthodoxy doesn't have the same categorizing zeal as Catholicism, so the list varied over the centuries.

But like in the Western Church, the sins were paired with various ?????±?€?????µ?‚?µ?»?? (virtues). The idea is that you cut out the sins and cultivate the corresponding virtues, ensuring good things in this life and the hereafter.

And then I ran out of steam. ?????·???€! (For shame!) It appears that I committed the sin of ?????‹?????µ (moral torpor). This is when you don't believe in anything, don't care about anything, and don't do anything — you know, the way you feel all winter, only without the excuse of snow. To get out of it, you need to apply the virtuous antidotes to ?????‹?????µ, which fall into two groups — spiritual and physical.

Physically you fight the ?»?µ???? (sloth) that accompanies despondency with such ?????±?€?????µ?‚?µ?»?? as ?????µ?€?????µ (diligence), c?‚?°?€?°?‚?µ?»?????????‚?? (great effort) and ?‚?€???????»???±???µ (industriousness). ?????µ?€?????µ is a word very familiar to underachieving children: ???‡???‚?µ?»?? ???±?????????????‚ ???»?°?±???? ???????µ???°?µ???????‚?? ???‚?????‚???‚?????µ?? ?????µ?€??????. (The teachers ascribed the poor success rate to a lack of effort.) But effort almost always pays off: ???€?? ???°???»?µ?¶?°?‰?µ?? ?????µ?€?????? ?????¶???? ?€?°?????‡???‚?‹???°?‚?? ???° ?…???€???????? ???‚???°?‡??. (With the right effort, you can count on good returns.)

???‚?°?€?°?‚?µ?»?????????‚?? has the sense of extra effort — giving it all you've got. This is admirable in an employee: ???·?? ?????µ?… ?????» ???? ???‚?€?µ?????»???? ???????°?·?°?‚?? ???????? ?»?????»?????????‚?? ???µ?„?? ?? ???‚?°?€?°?‚?µ?»?????????‚?? ?? ?€?°?±???‚?µ. (He tried as hard as he could to show his boss that he was loyal to him and went all out at work.) But, of course, not all great effort is a highway to heaven: ???? c ?±???»???????? ???‚?°?€?°?‚?µ?»?????????‚???? ???»?????°?» ???· ?€?°?·???‹?… ?±???‚?‹?»???? ?????‚?°?‚???? ?????????? ???µ?±?µ ?? ???‚?°???°??. (He painstakingly poured the vodka dregs from several bottles into his glass.)

Finally, you could try to increase your overall ?‚?€???????»???±???µ, a word easily parsed as "love of work" (?»???±???‚?? ?‚?€????). This basically means: Get off the couch and get over yourself. Hard work is admirable: ???°???‹?µ ?†?µ?????‹?µ ???°?‡?µ???‚???° ?‡?µ?»?????µ???° — ?‚?€???????»???±???µ ?? ?????€???????????‚??. (The most valuable qualities in a human being are a strong work ethic and modesty.)

On the spiritual side, the antidote to despondency is ???µ?€?° (faith). Here we are not talking about belief in things, processes or people: ???»?°?±?µ?µ?‚ ?????? ???µ?€?° ???? ?????‘ ???????‚?µ?‚???‡?µ???????µ. (My trust in all things synthetic is wearing thin.) And we're not talking about fuzzy-wuzzy, feel-good faith: ?’?µ?€???? ?? ?‚??, ?‡?‚?? ?? ???????†?µ ???????†???? ?????‘ ???°??-?‚?? ???????????????‚????, ?? ???° ???€?°?? ???€?????°???‚?? ???°?? ?¶???‘?‚ ?…????????-??????. (I believe that ultimately everything will somehow work out, and at the very edge of the abyss a happy ending awaits us.)

No, we're talking about Faith with a capital F. This is ???µ?€?° as religious confession: ?¦?µ?€???????? ???°???µ?µ?‚????, ?‡?‚?? ?????????µ ?????????»?µ?????µ ?????°???‚???? ???????????‚?°?‚?? ?? ???µ?€?µ. (The Church hopes that the new generation will be raised in the faith.) And ???µ?€?° as ???±?µ?¶???µ?????µ ?? ?????‰?µ???‚???????°?????? ?‘?????° (belief in the existence of God).

So, the Russian prescription for despair-busting is ???µ?€?° ?? ?‚?€???????»???±???µ (faith and hard work), which sounds an awful lot like modern psychological advice. ???µ ?????‹???°??! (Cheer up!)

Michele A. Berdy, a Moscow-based translator and interpreter, is author of "The Russian Word's Worth" (Glas), a collection of her columns.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more