'Self-Improvement'

I think self-improvement is a grave danger. Get spiritual counsel. Love is not self-improvement, love is other: ich und du.* Love is nothing without the beloved. So, I say, hey! don't worry about where you are on your spiritual journey, just do what you are here for, and follow the Christ. That's why the vocation is always other for men: to be the head of a household is self-sacrificial, entirely:+ there is no 'me' anymore in a family, no more 'me-time' or 'my space.' There is the family and what you have to do for it to provide for it and protect it, no matter where you are in your spiritual journey, God made you the husband and father, and you'd better step up to the plate and swing, no matter how good you are.

In that context, you do better yourself, to be better in the service of others. And that's really, for me, the only way I am better, is when I tell my wife I love her, or when my kids do well, and they are happy. Everything of me and mine pales in comparison to these things.

* in fact, the Filipinos have a special pronoun: 'kita,' I and Thou (two-as-one)
+ And don't even get me started on the priesthood: giving up everything to follow the Christ?