Virtue is it's own reward

Nature does not permit good men to be harmed by what is good. Virtue is the bond between good men and the Gods. The good man is given trials so as to harden himself- Seneca

Imagine someone on trial for multiple murders, do you think that that person is virtuous? Of course you don't, murder is one of the most heinous crimes there could be.

But what if that person on trial absolutely believes that they are innocent? Not just innocent, they are the victim in this case, let alone the perpetrator. Such is the human psyche which makes us justify everything we've done, good or bad, into something which suits our narrative and makes us come out as the "good person".

Are we really though?

A core tenet of stoic philosophy is to live a virtuous life. But what exactly is virtue? "A behavior showing high moral standards" is what Google defines it as. I prefer to think of it in a way which lets me sleep guilt free at night.

And the first thing that comes with being virtuous is to be honest to oneself. To accept that you will not be perfect. That you will slip up. You will be wrong sometimes. But like a seasoned warrior, you do not give up. You keep practicing, keep doing what you believe is the right thing to do.

A good parallel can be drawn from the Hindu tenet of Karma, where the only thing that matters is your actions and not the result. Stoicism argues that good actions would lead to good results and good results, if obtained from wrong actions would one day fall like a house of cards.

Think on everything you do everyday. Did you do things the way you should have? What would you think if someone else did the things that you've done? Would you make the same excuses for them? Or would you condemn them as a "bad person"? If so, why this disparity between you and them?

Think about it, and until then, Memento Mori.