Ben's Virtues

Select three of Franklin's virtues and reflect upon them in your blog. Ask yourself, how can I include them in my daily life?

            Well according to Mr. Franklin, I am apparently not the model citizen that I thought I was. This is very understanding, I believe that no human is perfect, but fortunately it is a possibility that I can improve myself. At the end of this test I found that there were three things which Ben Franklin would have found wrong with me.

I can admit that there are some things which need improvement, although due to my current circumstances, my life has felt chaotic for almost a year now. Because I am a full time student, a full time employee, and a full time dad with three kids; yes my life has been chaotic and I will admit that I need to restore order. There is no worst feeling than the fact that you have let go of yourself and your focus is getting by day to day. I know that this sounds like one big excuse, and excuses are something which I despise. So to make matters right, perhaps I need better personal planning, or maybe I have just overwhelmed myself with work. My guiding light at the end of the tunnel and what continues to push me is the fact that I will be done with the MSLD program by the end of November. Once I finish with school I fully intend to restore order to my life, hit the gym, and spend more time with my family instead of heading to my home office as soon as work is done. When an individual does not have order in their life, everything feels chaotic and I constantly feel stressed, this pattern cannot continue for much longer.

It seems to me that all of Mr. Franklin’s virtues are all intertwined, apparently I also have a problem with temperance and I can see how it relates to the lack of order in my life. “Eat not to dullness. Drink not to elevation” (Benjamin Franklin), over this last month I have gone on an eating craze and I have definitely been eating until the food has become dull, I think I am eating to assure that I am full rather than because of need or I am on a certain schedule. I am eating enough to survive all day at work since I am so busy and I might not get a chance to at again, for someone who has been so focused on fitness since I was sixteen, I know how horrible this is for me. As of late I have been addicted to unhealthy food, this is a path which I have never been down before and I need temperance and order in my life very soon.

The third virtue which I truly feel that I have to keep in mind for my daily life is cleanliness, now of course I take care of my body on the outside, but over the last two months I have not treated my body as if it were a temple. Benjamin Franklin states that we should “tolerate no uncleanness in the body”, two months of eating unhealthy and fast has taken its toll on my body and I can feel it. Since I have doubled up on classes for the MSLD program in an attempt to finish school prior to my military benefits expiring, my body has taken the brunt of the hit. Yes I will accomplish my goal but it has been at a heavy price, I have never felt so slow and low on energy in my life. I constantly have a headache and I feel sick, I keep telling myself that I am almost at the finish line, but perhaps I need to take Benjamin Franklins’ advice on this issue. Maintaining a clean body is essential to a virtuous person, I cannot be myself unless I make a change very quickly. If I take control of my life I am sure that I will be able to find myself once again.

Reference:

Franklin, B. (n.d.). Ben's 13 Virtues. Retrieved September 16, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/pop_virtues_list.html