Sophs # 4 journal --Be Like Ben (Franklin, of course)
An older and wiser man writing his autobiography, Dr. Benjamin Franklin gave to the world his prescription for achieving "the bold and arduous task of moral perfection": list 13 virtues you wish to master, work on only one per week (like eradicating weeds from one flower bed at a time, he said), examine your day each evening to see if you had committed any actions contrary to that virtue (keep a record in a lined notebook), proceed to the next virtue the next week, and continue this process for a year (you'll be able to go through four cycles in 52 weeks). Sounds simple enough, right? About as easy and American as apple pie.
As a young man hiding behind the nom de plume of Poor Richard Saunders, Franklin's words of wisdom often took the shape of clever, pithily worded aphorisms like "God helps them that help themselves; a penny saved is a penny earned; fish and visitors smell in three days; an apple a day keeps the doctor away, etc."
Your journal assignment gives you some options.
You should (choose ONE of the three):
A. Tell me a personal or family tale that represents one of Franklin's virtues.
B. Tell me a personal or family tale that represents the theme of one of Franklin's aphorisms. Write that aphorism as part of your title. Check out the "talking Ben" by clicking here.
C. Relate in detail some orderly plan that you contrived in order to achieve some goal.
As Ben would have said, "Do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.
POST BEFORE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16
posted by JTF @ 10:07 PM
31 comments
31 Comments:
On Benjamin Franklin’s list of thirteen virtues cleanliness was one that really stood out to me. My family would agree that my mother is hands down the biggest neat freak out there. She is constantly running around the house picking up anything that doesn’t belong somewhere, vacuuming, dusting, and yelling at me to put my laundry away. Whenever I think about being clean there’s always one specific even that always pops right into my mind. One day my father walked into the kitchen because he was thirsty. He walked over to the cabinet, retrieved his favorite cup, placed it on the countertop and then turned around to walk towards the refrigerator. No sooner had my father put the cup down my mother snatched it up without him noticing and placed it in the dishwasher, thinking that either my sister or I had left out yet another dirty cup. When my dad turned around and noticed the fate of his cup all he could do was just put back the gallon of milk and walk out of the kitchen. My sister and I just laughed uncontrollably while my mother tried to apologize, finally realizing what she had done. I will never forget that moment. My mom does a lot for my family and she keeps our house so clean but sometimes she just goes over the top. I doubt Benjamin would have wanted to be that clean, but cleanliness is always a nice virtue to have.
Although I might not have glasses and be bald like our good ole buddy Ben, but what I do is the essence of his spirit. A goal that I am desperately trying to reach is the goal of getting all B+'s or higher on my report card. Although to the common student it may not seem that far fetched but to me it is three-hundred versus a thousand empires. When I complete the task of earning my grade I will be awarded a brand new laptop of my choice. The way I am trying g to reach this goal is very clever, at least so I think. What I do is mark a calendar that is posted on my wall and everyday I go home and check studywiz and if all my grades are higher than a B I put a check, and if it is lower I put and X. At the end of the week I tally up all the checks and x'es and see which one prevails. If its the check team then I am allowed to spend the night at any of my friends house, If the x team throws in a QB sack and wins the game by just one field goal, then I say goodbye to the weekend sleepovers.
Benjamin Franklin’s virtue of frugality is something I see in my house almost everyday. My parents are extremely efficient. If it can be reused, recycled, or renewed they will almost always do it. One example of this is how we still have left over’s of last Mondays dinner, even though I believe that there is mold starting to form. My mom thinks of it as a sin to throw away food if it is still eatable even though my brothers and I think that we could die if we eat some of the things that are in those tuber ware containers. But food isn’t the only thing we tend to reuse, its clothes too. I still have clothes in my dresser from the 3rd grade that my parents are saving for when I have kids. My parents keep every pair of shoes I grow out of for hand me downs to give to my cousins but its recently gotten ridiculous. We have an entire section of our storage room that is just for used shoes. I don’t know why my mom thinks my cousins would want my olds shoes most of them have holes in the soles. But when it comes to not wasting anything my parents are probably the most anal about recycling. In my house alone we have five trash cans in the kitchen one for paper, one for plastic, one for glass, one for food disposal and one for cans. So when it comes time for garbage day taking out the trash is more than one chore. My brothers and I have to make sure each bag goes in the right bin and then we have to take the used food and bring out back to our home compost pile that my parents just recently set up. As you can see my parents like to think that they’re helping the earth by recycling even the food from our plates back to the earth to be used as mulch for my moms gardens. But its not all bad, the compost save my mom a lot of money, because she doesn’t have to buy the expensive mulch at Lowes or Home depot. So I guess Benjamin Franklin’s virtue of frugality was really smart especially back in his day when common resources could take days to arrive.
The one virtue on Benjamin Franklin's list of thirteen virtues that stood out the most to me was sincerity. People do not enjoy spending time with people who are not sincere. How could you want to hang out with somebody who you never know if they are being honest or not? Just like the old wise saying "treat your neighbor as you would want to be treated yourself", nobody would want to be lied to or schemed against. If you want people to be sincere to you, then you must be sincere also. Just think how great the world would be if everybody was sincere. There would be no cheating, lying or murder. Overall, I think that sincerity is Ben Franklin's most important virtue.
Benjamin Franklin achieved a lot in his life because of his determination. Ben was always busy achieving new goals and bettering his community. One thing he was really good at was setting a goal and doing anything in his power to achieve it. If he did not stay focused and determined our way of living would be completely different today. His determination really influences me in the aspect of working hard for what I want. One goal I really want to achieve this year is straight A’s so I can be exempt from all my finals. So far in the first quarter, I have been trying really hard and studying a lot. I figured if I keep doing this I’d be able to have an early summer. Another plus to getting straight A’s would be how happy it would make my parents. My dad is always talking about getting into a college and if I have those grades I’ll be able to do so which would make him really proud of me. Staying focused is really difficult especially with the other temptations out there but I know in the long run getting high grades is more important.
Benjamin Franklin achieved his goal of moral perfection and I hope to succeed in mine as well. My goal is to try my best to get straight A's every marking period. Or atleast close to it so I'm able to keep an A average and be exempt from all finals. I was able to do it last year so I hope this year goes just as well. To achieve this goal I'm going to do all of my homework and study for all of my tests and quizzes so my grade doesn't have a chance of dropping too much. I'm also going to try and do extra credit when I'm given the chance this way if something goes wrong I have those few extra points to fix it. Benjamin Franklin kept a chart of his goal and I do too. It's called powerschool. I check it everyday so I know what classes I need to spend more time on and which ones I'm doing very well in. It helps me so much and it's going to help me achieve my goal.
Out of the thirteen virtues that Ben Franklin wrote, the one that seemed most like my personality is tranquility. The way Ben Franklin described tranquility was "be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable." I have been told that I am easy going and that I can easily go with whatever anyone else wants to do. I also have learned to keep my cool and not be offended or react when people are in bad moods or want to start fights. (unlike when I was little, I had a very hot head and stubborn temper) Although I am still extremely stubborn sometimes, I am learning to mature more each year and be more "tranquil" as Benny Boy would say or as we would say now, calm. I am easy going and not hard to make happy, and am not disappointed when something does not go just as planned. I think Ben Franklin was smart for making virtues to follow, and I like the idea of practicing only one per week and taking in a slow and "tranquil" way.
Out of Benjamin Franklin’s 13 virtues, industry seemed like an important virtue to me. This idea of using time wisely, and being employed in something useful,really got me thinking of how much time I waste in a day. The time I wasted in Study Hall sitting there, instead of doing work, the time I wasted after school watching Oprah instead of doing my homework.I then realized that this virtue related to the goal I have set, and hope to reach this year. My goal this year is to get all A’s and B’s on my report card. In the past, I didn’t really take school that seriously, but now I have begun to realize that good grades are essential to getting into a good college. This year, I want to stay motivated on this goal, and use this virtue to help me achieve it.
My mother has always said that cleanliness was next to godliness. I’m beginning to wonder if she stole the quote from Ben Franklin, because cleanliness was one of his 13 virtues. Although I can’t go as far as to say that my house is always picked up, my mother sure makes a big deal about it. Whenever company comes over, we spend the entire day before cleaning the house. Always complaining, my mother apologizes to all the guests who come over before this cleaning has been completed – “Sorry, the house is a mess. Not much time anymore!” is always her excuse. In some ways, she’s a hypocrite with cleaning: always yelling at me to straighten up my room, when her and my father’s is always dirty! However, I have to give her some props. After spending an entire day at work, making money so that I can go to school, and live, and eat and such, she still manages to find time to clean up the kitchen after dinner and order us to pick up our junk from around the main rooms. Cleanliness is an important virtue to have; it makes things look brighter, newer, and more appealing. Ben Franklin was a smart guy!
When I was younger, I was terrified of the doctor. Why? Because going to the doctor meant getting a shot. When I found out there was actually a rule that would help me avoid the doctors, I followed that rule religiously. I was ecstatic when I first heard the phrase “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” In my literal mind I truly believed that eating an apple every day meant that I didn’t have to go to the doctors. I made sure we were always fully stocked with red and delicious apples at all times. My parents recited Ben Franklin’s famous words all the time without knowing I took it so literally. They were just happy to see a 5 year old eating so much fruit. Everyday I would routinely eat my apple as a snack between breakfast and lunch. All was well until it came time for a check up. Of course I was crushed to find out that my plan didn’t actually work, and in result through a fit whenever it came the time to go to the dreaded doctor’s office. I was furious when I found out it was just a saying, but of course my parents found it hilarious. Now every time I pick up an apple they quote Ben Franklin’s famous words and laugh at my childhood ignorance.
According to Benjamin Franklin's virtues, silence is second on the list. This virtue was one of the thirteen he wished to follow to achieve moral perfection. Silence really caught my eye because i think it relates to people the most. Ben Franklin wanted to express the ability of knowing the appropriate time and words to speak. He always thought the manner of speech was an important part in a proper society. Silence isnt an easy virtue for me to follow in most cases. I've been caught saying the wrong things at the wrong time. This seems to happen usually when i get in trouble, and have an argument with my parents. I am very persistent and likes to have the last word. Unfortunately thats when i get myself into even more trouble. Then my mom gives me this look that tells me i need to really stop talking now. So over the years i've learned a lot about being silent and not speaking when an adult is talking to me. Silence has been a major virtue i follow now especially when my parents are talking. I've seen a lot less stern looks from my mom and more smiles, only cause im not arguing with her. Silence has also expanded my knowledge as well. The extra time I have not talking has given me more time listening to my teachers and other adults. This is another reason Ben Franklin liked being silent, no wonder he was so smart. A virtue is an example of moral excellence and goodness, and Ben's second virtue is exactly that. Just like he said, "Speaking not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation."
Out of all of Benjamin Franklin’s thirteen virtues, I believe the virtue of industry can best describe me, and some situations I’ve been in. The idea of not wasting time and always occupying myself with something useful or interesting has helped me be a far more productive person. For example, one day after school a while ago, I decided, instead of doing my homework, I was going to take a nice, long nap. I was tired after a long day, so it sounded like a logical thing to do, right? Well, that’s what I thought, until I woke up at 8:30 at night. I was shocked - how could I have slept so long? Without knowing it, most of my day was gone, wasted. I had to scramble to get my homework done, and for the rest of the night I was a complete mess. Every day after this, I realized just how important the virtue of industry is. When I put things into perspective, that one day I slept took out a full 5 hours out of the day, and combined with school and homework, I realized that any free time I could’ve had was gone. Needless to say, I don’t do anything like that anymore. When I get home from school, instead of lazily falling into bed, I think about how long my homework will take, if I’m doing anything that day, and everything else to schedule the next few hours accordingly. By doing this, I succeed in being industrious, and I can honestly say it’s a big help.
A virtue from Benjamin Franklin’s 13 that relates to me personally, is silence. When there’s silence it can benefit yourself and others. In school, in public or anywhere, if someone is talking and you are speaking, it’s rude to interrupt or talk when they are. If you are silent and don’t speak, you won’t be thinking about what you have to say. You can benefit from this because maybe what the person is saying answers your question or helps you out in a way. Silence can also benefit someone else because if you’re not speaking then someone else can listen to the one speaking. For instance, I was in school and I was taking a quiz. There was a section on it that I didn’t know and we hadn’t learned it in class yet. I was freaking out because I had no idea what to do. The teacher was reading the instructions to us and telling us what we needed to do for the test. I was asking my friend about the section we hadn’t learned and saying how everyone will not know it. I turned in the test and the next received it back. I realized that we didn’t have to complete the section we didn’t learn yet. My friend and I actually got points taken off because we completed it and the teacher repeated it multiple times. Because my friend and I were talking when our teacher was, we missed the instructions for her telling us not to complete that one section. Silence is key in many ways and it helps situations if you are silent. I think this virtue is really important and necessary for everyday situations.
The one virtue of Ben Franklins was sincerity. One night my cousins and I were driving back from a party and we saw a broken down car on the side of the road, with the driver inside on his cell phone. We stopped the car and found out that he ran out of gas on his way back from work. Instead of just saying goodluck or just leaving we gave him a ride to the nearest gas station and then waited with him until his roomate picked him up. I felt really good after we did it which is why I understand why Benjamin Franklin wanted to live that way. That is a story that I have for Benjamin Franklins sincerity virtue. It may not seem like that virtue but we could of easily lied and said we had to be somewhere in a hurry but we told the truth.
All of Benjamin Franklin's virtues can relate to my family and I in some way, but frugality is the one that stood out in my mind about my great grandparents. My great grandparents live in Ohio in a very rural area, where there are barely any shopping stores, and the nearest fancy restaurant is all the way in town. This being said, they usually shop at Walmart every once in a while for only the things they really need. They are very old fashioned of course, in the way they talk and the way they dress, but I think that the way they never waste food is the best. My dad was always at their house as a little kid, and he said he had the best times, but would get yelled at if he left food on his plate. Whenever I go to Ohio to visit, I always make sure to only put small portions on my plate, because I don't want to waste. It is a good thing for me to go over there sometimes, because that way I can get to really learn how to be frugal with spending money, and learning to not throw away any food.
One of Ben Franklin’s virtues I can most relate to is frugality. I can most relate to this because throughout my entire life my Dad has been extremely frugal. I would say the one story that would sum up his extremely frugal daily nature is when we took a family trip to Florida. Prior to the vacation my Dad decided that the transport service provided by the Disney Cruise Line cost too much money for just four people, so he made reservations for a rental car instead of the bus we had the opportunity of taking. When we arrived in Florida my Dad went to find the rental car but since we had a lot of bags we decided to stay back and wait for him. But we were waiting in a place where only commercial buses could pick up passengers. When my Dad entered into the area to pick us up he announced to us that we needed to be very fast because we were in the parking space of a bus. After throwing the suitcases in the car, and one of the huge suitcases on my lap, we thought the worst was over. But before leaving the area we reached a gate that would not rise when the car was in front of it. We quickly realized there was something wrong. When my Dad realized that only cars with a special pass could make the gate rise we moved back and pulled over and waited. In a split-second decision my Dad saw a bus coming and quickly pulled out behind it, staying as close as he could, and miraculously made it through the gate without the gate coming down on the back of our car. This is only one of the many stories of the interesting effects of my Dad’s frugality.
The aphorism, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” absolutely does not apply to me, and never has. I do not like apples, and I probably never will. Whenever I tell people that I don’t like them, they tell me that I’m crazy and that I don’t know what I’m talking about. My parents and my brother LOVE apples, it is their favorite fruit. I don’t know if it’s the taste or the texture that I don’t like, but they disgust me, no matter what. When I was younger, my mom would always tell me Ben Franklin’s saying, thinking it would scare me into eating them; however, it would never work. I would never drink apple juice, eat apple sauce, or even think about eating apple pie. The funny part was that I was sick almost all the time. I was constantly going to the doctor for different things, mostly colds. I’m sure it was a hassle for my parents, but, once again, all they would say was “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”. They would be lucky if I ate two pieces of broccoli at dinner! It’s no wonder I was always sick, but I don’t regret anything. I still don’t plan on eating an apple any time soon; sorry, Ben!
Ben Franklin had many aphorisms, but the one that reminds me of my dad is “a penny saved, is a penny earned.” My dad collects soda bottles. If the bottles have DE $.05 on the label then he can take it to a supermarket and get five cents for the bottle. He started this in January. He would tell me to look for them around school and I never did because I was embarrassed to be seen carrying around empty soda bottles. Since January he has collected $64.35. He also grabs loose change off the floor where ever he goes. If he sees a penny on the floor under someone’s foot he will wait ‘til that person moves to grab it. He gets sooooo “crazy” about finding money that if a penny is stuck to the floor he will get his pocketknife out to get it. He has found over 100 dollars in change in the last two years. This proves with a little effort, saving money can go a long way. That’s why I believe “a penny saved, is a penny earned” fits my dad very well.
Benjamin Franklin’s virtue of Sincerity is one of the things my parents have taught me my whole life. It’s very like the golden rule; treat others the way you would like to be treated. What this means is that if you don’t want to be treated unfairly or rudely, then you should not treat others that way. If everyone were to follow this rule, or at least work on following this, then the world would be so much more sincere. This would help eliminate bullying as well. Growing up with my parents stressing being sincere really helped me be a nicer and better person. Ben Franklin stressed this as well and he knew what he was talking about. In my opinion, sincerity is one of Ben Franklins most important virtues.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away! Apples are quickly becoming my favorite fruit. I recently received a tip on a Midwestern variety named Honeycrisp that is especially good. Get 'em while you can; they're not available all year.
Benjamin Franlin had a plan to acheive moral perfeection, I do not have a plan to achieve a goal of that status but one goal i have is to pass all my clases this year with a B or higher. One way I can acheieve this goal is first doing all my homework completely. I will write all my homework down in my planner and bring all my books home after school. Another way i plan to achieve this goal is to study when i know i have quizzes or test coming up. i plan to study the material until i know it with ease. on way i keep track of my work is by checking Powerschool everyday and also i average my grades out in school when i get test and quizzes back. Also I check Studywiz for study guides and extra credit. The reason i want to complete this goal is ainly because my dad told me i would get a lot of money off car insurance. Hopefully this goal will benefit myself. I wont need to spend as much money and I'll have good grades. Benjamin Franklin's goal of living morally perfect is a good but extremely hard goal, so I think my goal is a good start to perfection.
The one virtue I think I have experienced the most and failed at is moderation. The other day I was cleaning out my closet and seeing that I have so much stuff that I have never even taken the tags off of and they are last season so I feel terrible when I look at them and put them in the charity pile. The next day I made dinner and I hade made to much chicken penne and at the end of the meal my brother did not come over like he said he would and the meal would have gone bad if no one ate it in a couple of hours. So I had to throw that away and I started realizing that I am definitely not following moderation. Yesterday I went to the environmental club meeting and heard about all this stuff about being more “green” and heard that you have to take the caps off of water bottles before you recycle them or they will not be able to be recycled and I then said to myself holy moly how could I have done that all these years. I also realized that I have way to many shoes and as a girl I can’t believe I just said that but I cant even fit all of my shoes on a sixteen pair shoe rack so maybe I should not get another pair of shoes for awhile and realize that some people don’t even have to shoes to protect them. So with reading this segment of Ben Franklin’s autobiography I realized that I am terrible at following Ben’s thirteen virtues but moderation is definitely is the one I lack in. But with realizing these experiences I think I have a resolution to make one that deals with moderation.
Benjamin Franklin had thirteen moral virtues he planned to perfect. One of them was frugality, meaning make no expense but to do good to others or yourself. This basically means waste nothing. Of all of the people in my family my grandmother was the most frugal. She saves absolutely everything, but she has a good reason. She lived through the Great Depression where you were given a stamp and you only received a small amount of something. She even managed to save some of her families ration stamps! She was taught to save as much as possible because you may be able to use it for something else or you may not get anymore for a while. Some have judged and said, “She kept her leftover Halloween candy for how long?” Although she may have kept it until we threw it out ourselves, her frugality has changed from a trait I once thought was kind of disgusting, to one that I admire. She not only kept her candy, but she kept all of the old family photos and family history. It has recently become very important to me to learn all about my family and it’s nice to know that I will never have to search for it because she kept it for all these years.
Ben Franklin's virtue of cleanliness really comes to play in my family. You will never see a more clean freak than none other than my mother. She's ridiculous, she vacuums at least once a week, does the laundry almost everyday, and even washes dishes sometimes that have already been washed. Thats not even the worst of it. The first time i came home from my long and tiring football practice, I had never seen my mother so outraged. She started to scream and shout at me saying I did not have any respect for myself and demanded that i take a shower right that second. I did not listen to her and the next thing i knew she was spraying me with febreze and grounded me for a week. Cleanliness is an important virtue because it is a good for society and yourself to have good hygiene. My mom follows this rule, but i think she overexaggehates a little too much.
Benjamin Franklin was a man of strong moral perfection. Like his 13 virtues, I have some myself. One goal I'd really like to achieve is getting straight A's this year. I was able to accomplish this goal last year, but I am having a little more trouble this year, due to the B I have in chemistry. In order to be able to achieve my goals, I must have dedication and hardwork. To help me achieve this goal, I am going to set up a chart to help me organize my free time, therefore, I can set aside time to study. Then, I will put a check I used that time to study, or I will put an "X" if I have failed to do so. This will help me because it will set my standards and it is good organization. Instead of watching t.v. or being on the computer, I will set aside time to study. I think Benjamin Franklin would be proud of this idea!
Tranquility would have to be one of the easiest virtues from Benjamin Franklin that I am able to relate to. Generally my house is almost always tranquil, my mom and I are very easy going people and just do whatever. My sister on the other hand, she is constantly full of energy and therefore plays sports nonstop so she is rarely home and when she is home she is usually too tired to cause chaos and keeping the tranquil atmosphere. I will never forget though how that tranquility was interrupted the first time she started playing sports for her school and had to wait in between volleyball and basketball season. My mom and I were so used to her not coming home until 5:30 and being completely wiped out and having to do her homework, but during the brief period between seasons it was like a hurricane hit our house. She was worst then the energizer bunny, and constantly bugging me to play outside with her while I was doing my homework, playing soccer/volleyball inside, and doing kart wheels everywhere. It made me realize how much a value that tranquility and although I love my sister, there is a point when she can get to be too much. Needless to say, every year I still dread that time in between sports season, although now that she has gotten older and moved up, her sports have started sooner and leaving less more time of tranquility for me.
“When the well’s dry we know the worth of water.” This is my favorite aphorism of Benjamin Franklin. To me this means that we under value really precious items and that when they finally are gone, we realize just how precious and valued they are. One personal tale that represents this and really touches me is that of my old dog, Molly. Molly was a great mixed dog from the pound. She always was there for you, she came to the door with a smile on her face when you arrived home, and looked as if to say, “Good! You’re back! I missed you! Let’s play!” I loved her lots. Every day she would be so happy to see me, but I would just pat her head and walk past. I took her company for granted, I was naive. I played with her, we had great times, fun times, sad times, but those were special occasions. Most of the time I just took her warm presence for granted. Then one day she got really sick and was never the same again. She got sicker and sicker, but I still didn’t pay attention. Then one day she wasn’t there when I got home, and I realized. I loved her. I missed her with all my heart. But I would never see her again. I finally realize just how much she meant to me. I finally know the worth of a dog’s love now that it’s missing from my life.
On Benjamin Franklin’s list of thirteen virtues, sincerity was one that seemed most important to me. When I was a little girl my parents always told me, “Haley, if you want the world to love you, you have to give the world something to love”. What my parents told me was similar to the golden rule: “Treat others the way you want to be treated”. I took these sayings to heart, always helping out my friends, trying to produce a smile on their faces and always treating them with respect and fondness. Some say that I am a sincere person and I agree. I will rarely talk about someone behind his or her back because I know how much it can hurt. I have gotten hurt before and I do not intend to inflict any pain on anyone else. I am a good friend and I always manage to find a good quality or trait in everyone. I can honestly say that I have given the world someone to love.
One of Benjamin Franklin’s aphorisms that my family likes is “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” I don’t really follow that because I’m not really a morning person but I never stop hearing it. Every morning when I wander down stairs at 7:00 when we have to leave at 7:10 that’s all I hear, “If you went to bed earlier you would be able to get up in the morning and then we wouldn’t be late every morning!” and my mother is the most unbearable morning person that she doesn’t see how I can’t get up and bounce down the stairs and get out and be healthy, make oodles of cash, and be wise. It’s always just, “Maybe if you got to bed earlier you could do something in the morning!” I’m not a big fan of Ben because of that particular saying because he probably just wrote it to take away all hope from people like me and give it to all the people not unlike my mother. I do, however, know what he was trying to say, that people shouldn’t waste any daylight and quit when the sun goes down and don’t waste any time not doing anything.
When reading Ben Franklins thirteen virtues, I was attracted to a certain one: frugality. Frugality basically means that you save up everything you can, and use it for something else later on. I can honestly say that my family and I are huge on this. Our beach house is the center of frugality if you ask anyone who’s been there. We not only recycle all our recyclables and eat our left over’s, we don’t use cars that much either. I can remember just waking up in the morning with my grandpa and taking a bike or walking to get the paper. Upon entering our home once again, we all eat the same kind of breakfast, so that we use all of what we have and not a little of each. The summer breeze accounts too: for we can just open the windows instead of using the air conditioning. Staying indoors, we also keep all the lights shut off if we leave the room, and televisions are never left on when unoccupied. Lastly, we only get a few drinks a day and we have to drink the first drink, before opening another. My family is very frugal, and I like being like that as well. All in all, I wouldn’t change how I live today to waste anything that comes near me. After reading Ben’s list and seeing that a virtue was based upon the way of living I was grown up too, I was happy to learn that I could do this all without help. I was also pleased to learn that I could finish at least one virtue a day without it being difficult or staggering on my mind.
One plan that I have had and that I worked very hard on was when I decided my religion wasn't for me and I had to find a new one that I thought suited me and made sensce to me. For months I struggled looking up religions, finding out what they beleive, all their traditions and history. Then I took time for each religion I looked up and tried them out for a uration of time to see if it would make more sensce to me if I practised it. After looking fora whil I had found the right one. For wekks I practised applying the principles and beleifs to my life and following them and onc I thought I finally had it down tghenI went through telling my family what I had done. In the end it all woked out well and my plan was a succes. I had found the religion that made sense to me and I was pleased with myself that I had done this all on my own.
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