Sophs Journal # 1--Be Like Ben [Franklin, of course]
Post before 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6
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 or practice that represents one of Franklin's thirteen virtues.
B. Tell me a personal or family tale or practice that represents the theme of one of Franklin's aphorisms. Write that aphorism as part of your title. Check out the "quotable Franklin" by clicking here.
C. Relate in detail some orderly plan that you contrived in order to achieve some goal.
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 or practice that represents one of Franklin's thirteen virtues.
B. Tell me a personal or family tale or practice that represents the theme of one of Franklin's aphorisms. Write that aphorism as part of your title. Check out the "quotable Franklin" by clicking here.
C. Relate in detail some orderly plan that you contrived in order to achieve some goal.
Remember, write a minimum of 200 words.
As Ben would have said, "Do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of.
posted by JTF @ 10:18 AM
46 comments
46 Comments:
“God Helps Them That Helps Themselves”
I was overwhelmed. It was just a week before the end of the first quarter and my grades were not looking too great. In nearly every class, my grade was on or near the “cusp”. My chemistry grade could go from a C to a B, my spanish grade could go from a B to a C, my theology grade could go from a B to an A, and my math grade could go from a B to an A. I had so much to worry about with all the tests I needed to study for and the projects I needed to complete. It was just too much. The easy thing to do would have been to pray to God that I would do well on all my final assessments in each of my classes to raise my grades, but God does not just simply help people. He helps them that help themselves. I decided to take the road less traveled and put in the extra time and work. Instead of simply waiting to cram everything at the last minute, I decided to study and work on my projects ahead of time. I even gave up my Friday and Saturday nights to do this. In the end, I was so worn out from all the studying I accumulated that I could not keep my eyes open. It sure was worth it, though. When I saw my report card, I was stunned. I had miraculously managed to raise my chemistry grade to a B, keep my B in spanish, and raise not only my math grade to an A, but also my theology grade to an A. Just a week before the quarter was over, I was worrying about receiving maybe not only my first C on a report card, but my first two C’s on a report card; however, when it was all said and done, my grades turned out great because God helps them who helps themselves. He sure helped me out big time by rewarding me for all my studying and time spent trying to improve upon my grades.
“No gains without pains.” –Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin’s aphorism “No gains without pains” is a common saying that is still used today and applies to many situations. The theme of this particular saying is that in order to succeed or achieve a personal goal, you may have to make sacrifices or go through pain and suffering. I personally have lived by the theme of this aphorism in many ways in both my schoolwork and athletics. During cross country season, there are many instances in which I must sacrifice my time with my friends and family for training. At first it seems unfair, but I know it pays off in the long run when those practices help me in a race. This theme also applies to me when I must push through the middle of a tough workout or race. At the time, it is painful and tiring, but I must always remember that I am doing it for my team and it is the only way I can get better. If I do not give it my all, I know that I will not be able to reach my personal goal at the end of the season. I must remember that the pain is only temporary, but I will always remember how I pushed through and didn’t give up.
I also live by the theme of this aphorism when it comes to my schoolwork. Although there is no physical pain like there is in cross country, I must make sacrifices in order to succeed. There are many times when I must stay home on the weekends to do homework rather than going out with friends. On school nights, there are times when I must skip one of my favorite TV shows to do homework or study for a big test. However, all these sacrifices are worth it because they result in good grades and success. No matter what the situation may be, I know that when there is pain, there will be a rewarding gain in the end.
When the Well’s Dry, We Know the Worth of Water
One of the aphorisms of Benjamin Franklin was “When the well’s dry, we know the worth of water.” I can easily relate this aphorism to the weekend that my power went out for sixteen and a half hours during Hurricane Sandy. I live in a very wet area, and my basement has two sump pumps. When our power went out around five o’clock on a Monday evening, my mom and dad knew that our sump pumps would overflow. We went downstairs and painstakingly scooped water from our filled sump pits into buckets using a quart-sized container. Then we took these buckets out to our driveway and dumped the water into the street. We did this about every two hours, having to set alarms for one o’clock, three o’clock, and five o’clock in the morning. My mom, my dad, and I bailed around 300 gallons of water from our basement on Monday night and Tuesday morning until our power came back on at about nine thirty on Tuesday morning. The experience of losing power made me appreciate electricity and how much easier it makes our lives. Without electricity, my house would probably not even have a basement because it would be constantly flooding.
Journal 1: Ben Franklin
“Well done is better then well said”
B. In my family, we are always trying to do good deeds for our community. Whether it be our schools, church, neighborhood, or town, we are always putting others needs in front of our own. We never publicize what we do, or go around telling people that we just helped a lot of families in need. Instead, we just do it. Like Franklin said “Well done is better then well said”, we don’t always “talk the talk” but we “walk the walk”.
One week ago, Hurricane Sandy hit our little island, Brigantine Beach, right off the coast of
Atlantic City, New Jersey. Our island was hit very hard, leaving many people homeless. Luckily our home was not damaged by the storm. The community center on the island was holding an outreach for those to donate blankets, jackets, shoes, clothing, food, water, and money donations to give to those who lost their homes and many of their belongings. So this past weekend, my family and I gathered all of our old coats and clothes and shoes, boxed them up and we drove them to community center where they would be distributed to families in dire need of warm clothes. We also received an e-mail from our realtor. They were asking homeowners, whose homes were not damaged by the storm, to allow families who lost their homes to stay in those undamaged. So along with donating our old clothes, we are letting a family stay in our beach home until theirs is rebuilt.
My family will not go to the tops of mountains and shout to the entire world about how giving we are. It’s just not something we do. We would prefer our acts of charity to stay unspoken of. If it gets out, it gets out. There is nothing we can do about that. But we are not the kind of family that go around bragging to everyone about every little act of kindness that we have ever done, because trust me that would take a life time.
As you know, for the non-fiction book on a topic in American history I chose to read John Adams by David McCullough. While the minimum requirement for this project was a book of 200 pages, I chose to read John Adams, which has around 650 pages. Shortly after I started to read it, I realized that I would not be able to finish it in time if I kept only reading a couple of pages a day. I did all the math, and since the final paper is due on Tuesday the twentieth of November, I found that in order to have ample time to work on the project, I would have to read 25 pages a day, and by doing that I would be finished by the weekend of the tenth and the eleventh. So far, I am on track with my goal, as I am currently on page 525. While it has been a hassle to come home at 6:00 after practice and have to study for a big test the next day and read 25 pages, it has been worth it because it has really kept me on track. In fact, yesterday, at the county championship meet, since we had to be an hour early, I read 50 pages of my book instead of the usual 25. Even though John Adams did not really like Ben Franklin, I think he would approve of my method to achieve the goal of finishing the book on time.
When I was in 7th grade, I made a plan, which in some ways is still in effect. I wanted to better myself at the arts, specifically singing, acting, and dancing. My first part of the plan was to get into Cab Calloway School of the Arts for vocal arts. In order to be accepted, I needed to learn a classical Italian aria and a musical number of my choice. I practiced nonstop for months in order to perfect my pieces. I made sure I knew the lyrics and notes like the back of my hand. Part of that plan also meant working on my presence in front of the people who would decide my fate. My voice teacher would have me walk in and out of rooms in order to practice walking with confidence but without appearing arrogant. I would also practice saying my name and my song choices in my mirror to make sure I was articulate. I put my plan into action as soon as my name was called to go in for my audition. I took to heart the countless hours I rehearsed every single detail, big or small. I made sure I thought of how hard I worked and I let myself go and do the best I could possible do. I unfortunately didn’t get in because I didn’t live in the right school district but even though that part of the plan didn’t fall through, it helped me reconstruct it at a better school for me and now I have a better idea of what my plan should be.
Benjamin Franklin said, "God helps those who help themselves." This quote reminds me of something I learned from an experience of mine. When you want something done you can't just hope for it to happen. You have to make it happen for yourself. Many people just try to let other people do their work for them. Others will procrastinate and wait until the last minute. Sometimes these stunts will pay off, but other times, they will mostly end in a failure. I learned the common belief of if you want something done, right you got to do it yourself. When you do a group project and you find one person who doesn't want to put in any work you can count that person out. It's up to everyone else to fill that person's responsibility. It is hard to rely on people when they do not put in any effort. Only you can make sure that everything is up to your standards. Also, you cannot be the person who does nothing and expect everything to be good in the end. To achieve whatever you want you need to put your own effort into it and not take for granted that things will turn out right or that other people will do their job.
In my family, there have always been instances of theft and things mysteriously going missing around the house, especially money. In this particular instance, there was a one hundred dollar bill missing from my brothers safe and he did not lose it. Of course to start off, he asked if I stole it which I didn’t obviously, then he went to the main source of all theft in our house, my sister. He began by screaming at her demanding the money back and she denied everything, screamed back and then left, leaving mike with no answers. His money was never found and he was never reimbursed for the money stolen. The morale of the story is his resolution tactics were not good ones and led him to drive away the number one suspect who did steal his money in the end. Ben Franklin would have been more patient and used facts and clues to figure out who stole his property and then forgave them. My brother holds the grudge to this day and refuses to let it go because you should not steal from family. Next time he gets stolen from, his resolution skills will be better honed and he will find the truth I’m sure.
One of Franklin’s thirteen virtues is moderation and I believe that my family practices moderation very well. My family and I are very moderate when it comes to sports and activities. While we realize that it is important to be at the practices and games, we do not believe that you need to be at all of them. Let’s say a coach has scheduled four practices in a week. My parents would say to probably go to two or three of them depending. My parents have always been firm believers that school comes before sports, so if I have a lot of homework on some nights they will let me skip a practice. Practice does make you a better athlete but sometimes you overwork your body and it’s not good for you. Your body needs rest and time off to reenergize. There is nothing wrong with just relaxing and doing nothing from time to time. That is why you must be moderate when it comes to sports. No one aspect of your life should out balance another. Anything in excess or extreme amounts can cause you to be unhealthy. Everything you do in life should be within moderate limits whether it is sports, school, or whatever you are doing.
Do not Squander Time; for that’s the Stuff Life is made of
“Does thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.” One place where I know not to waste time or take it for granted is the camp I go to every summer, Camp Akomak. Camp Akomak is an all-girls sports camp three and a half hours north of Toronto, Ontario. I spend eight wonderful weeks up there every summer. Eight weeks seems like a long time, but like they say, time flies when you’re having fun. Most people spend their summer tanning or sleeping in, etc. I spend my summers swimming at least a mile a day, running, and playing outside. After I describe Akomak to people, some of them ask if I actually like going there because to them, it sounds like death. I even have one friend who calls it suicide camp. Even though some people refuse to believe me when I say it’s fun, it is my favorite place in the world. When I am there, I try not to let anything bother me, which is usually pretty easy owing to the fact that there is no electricity. There are about fifteen girls that stay the whole eight weeks, and we become as close as sisters after those eight weeks. Days go by slow, but weeks go by way to fast. At our last bonfire of the year, people stand up and share stories about how much camp has helped them and how much they love it. It doesn’t usually hit me that camp is over until I’m on my way home. Throughout the entire rest of the year, the only thing I want is to go back to camp and wish I had more time there. Time is everything to me when I think about camp.
“Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” The theme of this aphorism by Ben Franklin is a secret can only be kept if just one person knows it. I’ve had many experiences where I told a close friend a secret and that friend told another friend and soon everyone knew. This is also how rumors start and spread. When I was in elementary school, my friends and I used to play a little game called “Telephone.” Someone starts out by whispering something in to someone’s ear and then that person whispers to the next person what they hear. The message is passed through a line of people until the last player announces the message to the entire group. Usually by the time the message gets to the end, it’s the complete opposite of what the original message was. This is like sharing secrets. When I was younger, I used to think that telling just one person a secret would be okay but that’s not always the case and your words might get twisted along the way. I learned that you can’t trust anyone and if you want a secret to stay a secret, it’s best if you just kept it to yourself. Secrets travel faster than shooting stars.
Glass, China, and Reputation
“Glass, China, and Reputation are easily crack'd, and never well mended.” One of Benjamin Franklin's many aphorisms, this one is still very relevant in today's society. Everyone has heard it a million times. People are more prone to remember the bad than the good. A person can be so good all-around, can make one mistake, and that's what they are remembered for. It's a shame, isn't it? Nonetheless, it's the truth, which is why I am always very careful about how I appear to others, what I say around others, and how I act around others. One act of foolishness, one slip of the tongue, one wrong move, can tarnish a person's reputation forever. With social media websites like Facebook and Twitter, it's so much easier for not just people you know, but the world, to see your flaws. I am very careful about every word or picture I post on my Facebook account because I know that the list of possible people who can see it is endless. Some day colleges or companies I will apply to might look at it, and even if they've heard nothing but good things about me, one wrong thing on the internet could mean the rejection of my college or job application. Benjamin Franklin was right by saying that reputations are hard to repair and easily broken. A “crack'd” reputation can be the cause of a person's failure in life, which is why we should all heed Franklin's advice, and be careful with our reputations.
Benjamin Franklin set many goals for himself throughout his life and worked hard to achieve those goals. Like Ben, I have many goals that I try my best to complete. One of those goals I made last year. As I began my freshman year in high school, I knew there were many things that I wanted to do. I knew the one thing that I really wanted to accomplish was to make it through the year with straight A’s. I knew that challenging myself academically wouldn’t be easy, and I was right. In order to achieve this goal, I had a process of steps throughout each day. The first step was to pay attention in my classes. Paying attention and taking good notes helps me understand what we learn better. Another step was to write down my homework, upcoming quizzes and tests, and what books I needed that night in my planner. Making sure I got my work done and had the right books was really important because homework can have a huge impact on your grades. Also, I had to balance sports and friends with my schoolwork. I had to stay committed to my team, but I also had to do my homework. I knew I couldn’t go out every weekend with my friends because of projects and studying, but I still made time to spend with them. Following this plan helped a lot – I finished the year with straight A’s and accomplishing my goal felt great!
For some kids, summer is three months of sitting around and achieving nothing. In past summers, I had found myself being constantly bored and unproductive. Looking back, I saw that I had wasted plenty of time that could have been spent making myself healthier, smarter, and happier. At the beginning of this past summer, my parents got divorced and I moved, so I was going through a lot of change. I figured that sitting around all summer and thinking about my parents and the move wasn’t going to make things any better, so I decided to change up my summer routine, too. One of my goals for that summer was to get a job and make some money to save up for later in life. I didn’t get the job I had applied for earlier that winter and it was far too late to apply for any at that point, so getting a job was out of the question. The next thing I wanted to focus on was health. I’ve always been a pretty avid runner and healthy eater, but I wanted to expand on that and become the best I could possibly be. My plan was to run three miles a day, and I stuck to that plan for all three months. I also attempted to eat healthier, which actually happened about 90% of the time that summer. Another goal I had was to make myself smarter. I decided that reading was the best way to do this. Apart from the summer reading books I am assigned, summer is the only time all year that I am actually able to choose what I read. I took advantage of this opportunity and picked out a book series that I really enjoyed. I read all nine books of the Pretty Little Liars series this past summer, enjoying every single one of them. For the first time ever, I really enjoyed my summer reading books, too. The last thing that I focused on this past summer was the use of my free time. My goal was to avoid my cell phone and the television as much as possible. Of course, I still watched a movie every once in a while, but overall, I would say my goal was achieved that summer. The main way I occupied myself was with gardening. The idea of spending my free time gardening sounded ridiculous to me at first, but I soon found it to be very peaceful and calming. It was a great way to clear my head. I planted everything in mid-June, and the plants sort of became my own personal project. Every morning, the first thing I would do when I got up would be to go water the vegetable garden and the flowers I planted. Toward the end of the summer, I got kind of attached to the plants and I felt obligated to take care of them no matter what. Leaving them without water when I went to the beach for a week was pretty difficult for me to do. Last summer was my most productive summer yet and it was a really good learning experience for me. I will never look back and say that any time was wasted during those three months.
Question #1
One of Ben Franklin’s virtues that he came up with is temperance. What temperance means is to have moderation or self restraint in actions. Me personally, and in the rest of my family we use temperance as a value to live by. Myself, I am temperate because I try to balance my life and life like Jesus Christ and restrain myself from bad behavior. I try and stay with what I think is the right choice and not fall into peer pressure to try and seem cool. Ben Franklin made this one of his 13 virtues for obvious reason. If you remain a temperate person, your life will be much better lived as a person. My family lives temperate lifestyles as well as I do. My family is both honest and good decision makers. Both my parents have always made great decisions, and been great people. My brother, who is a senior, has also used this virtue although all the temptations high schools seniors may come up against. When I looked up the definition of temperance, it mentioned restraint of alcohol. I know me and my older brother both retrain from consuming alcohol. My parents have also made great decisions with alcohol, always keeping it at a minimum, and never going overboard. As a family, temperance is something we practice and think is important in how we live our lives.
Every Thanksgiving, my family has a meal with about fifty of our close relatives. It is one of everyone’s favorite days of the year, and we all look forward to time spent visiting with each other and sharing funny stories. Our meal is always delicious and it is fun to just spend a day to just be grateful for everyone in our lives. However, one thing is always on my mind every Thanksgiving: the beginning of the Christmas season and the joyful sound of Christmas music. Because my parents have a strict rule that no Christmas music is allowed in our house until the Thanksgiving meal is over, every year I look forward to finally turning on the radio and hearing my favorite classic holiday songs . This demonstrates Benjamin Franklin’s virtue of order: “Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.” According to my parents, the Christmas season is only officially allowed to begin it’s time after the business of Thanksgiving is finished. Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday, so it is always exciting when we break out the Christmas festivities the day after Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, holiday tunes are constantly ringing through our house as we prepare for one of the most joyful, religious, and festive holidays of the year.
ShaneT Yellow
I tried to keep my grades up while my baseball workouts and practice had started. I would do a regular routine everyday during this time. After my school day I would have either workouts or practice; depending on which I had at the time. When I was finished with baseball I would wait for my ride, then head home. Once I made it home I would unwind and relax for awhile usually till dinner. After I finished eating my dinner I would sit down and start my homework. I would usually work on that for about two to three hours. Once I was done all my homework I would fall asleep very quickly due to the long tasking day. This would be my schedule almost everyday. With this schedule I was able to finish the end of the year with all A's and B's.
One of Franklin’s thirteen virtues that I try to practice is cleanliness. In Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography he says that to obtain cleanliness you can tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation. The way I practice this virtue of cleanliness is by doing various things. One of those things is taking a shower everyday. By doing this I am able to keep my body clean, which is what Mr. Franklin said was essential for cleanliness. I also brush my teeth everyday in the morning and the afternoon. When it comes to the clothes section, I leave that to my Mom. She washes my clothes after I wear something. By doing this I never wear dirty clothes and fulfill the clothes part of cleanliness. Finally, when it comes to the habitation part of cleanliness, I fulfill this by doing three things. One is keeping my room neat and clean. The second is keeping my bathroom clean all of the time. The third thing is keeping my house clean by helping my Mom clean every weekend. By doing all these various things I feel I fulfill Benjamin Franklin’s virtue of cleanliness. To me cleanliness is a very important virtue because you have to take care of yourself before you can take care of other things. This is why I choose to practice this virtue.
In eighth grade, I was having trouble in math. I was taking Algebra 1 and my grade was not where I wanted it to be. I wanted to do better so I developed a plan to get a good grade. I paid attention in class and did my best to understand the lessons. Every night I did the homework. I made sure to write down the correct answers when we corrected it in class. I asked my friends and the teacher for help when I didn’t understand. Before tests I would go over problems I didn’t understand and make sure I knew how to do them. When we got the tests back, I would look at the questions I got wrong and figure out what mistakes I made. Despite all this work, I still received a C in that class. Although I did not achieve my goal, I did gain a lot from that experience. I learned how to develop better study habits and what tricks worked for me. I also learned how to focus in class better. Most important of all I learned that if I worked hard and tried my best that was the most important thing, no matter what my grade was.
One of Benjamin Franklin's thirteen virtues was order. To him order meant letting all your things have their places; letting each part of your business have its time. One family tale that relates to this virtue is the time my sister had the idea to plan a surprise birthday party for my mom. There were many things that needed to be coordinated in order for this plan to work. One was figuring out who should be at the party and sending the invitations to them. Another was, of course with all surprise parties, keeping it a secret from my mom. It proved to be very difficult to organize a party without letting her know. My sister, along with my grandmother, planned out ever last detail in order to have a great party. They organized for my mom to be out of the house for enough time to get all the guests in and set up decorations. To make this party special, many of my mom's close friends were at the party who even helped us plan the whole thing. The part ended up being a great success and made my mom very happy. My sister had to use a great deal of order so that this party could happen.
Silence. It takes a lot of true wisdom to understand the value of silence. Many people believe that if they are constantly talking, talking, talking all of the time then it makes them sound wiser and smarter. I was like that too; I am not ashamed to admit. I fell into the typical, human desire to sound smart. What I didn’t realize was that by constantly, for lack of a better word, bragging, I was only making myself look desperate and stupid. It wasn’t until my seventh grade creative writing class that I recognized the beauty in silence. The class was taken outside into the hills, and we just sat off in our own corners of the field and listened. We channeled all of our senses that day, which is what I began to continue doing on my own. I sat in the grass, and I would write what the feeling of each blade of grass felt like underneath my dry fingertips. I watched as the tree limbs whipped back and forth in a constant, fiery dance. I smelled the sweet crispness in the cool, autumn air. I would listen to the rustling of the leaves underneath the trees, to the cars rushing by on Polly Drummond Hill Road, to the distant sound of preschoolers screaming and running around on the playground. Ever since that day, I have tried to go out once a month to sit by myself to listen, to watch, to smell, to feel, to be silent. Being silent and simply listening is sometimes the smartest thing you can ever do.
3. I contrived an orderly plan when I was training for soccer tryouts. For the tryouts we had to run 3.5 miles before practicing. We had to run this under 40 minutes. Since this was a very long run I had to train over the summer to be ready. Starting in the middle of June I decided that I would have a routine that I would stick to for the rest of the summer. I would run on Monday. Also at this time the Varsity captains were holding practices on Tuesday and Thursday. I would go to these practices every week to run and practice my soccer skills. On Wednesday I would take a day off. On Thursday I would go to the captain’s practice. On Friday I would take a day off. On Saturday I would run. And on Sunday I would take a day off. On the days that I ran I would try to increase the amount I ran or decrease the amount of time it took me. For the first week I ran a mile, the next week a mile and a half, and so on. Also on Monday if I ran it in 8 minutes I would try to run it faster on Saturday. On the days off from running or practice I would just go into my back yard and mess around wit the soccer ball just to keep myself sharp.
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.
Summer time is a great time for kids to relax and enjoy a break from school. However, this summer was very busy and active for me. Every morning I would wake up at 6:45am for a 7:15am swim practice. So I would need to get up everyday to get a strenuous workout in. Some days it would be a big struggle. The thought of leaving my nice, warm bed to go swim in a freezing cold pool was a bitter one. Then I would just remind myself how refreshed I feel after a hard practice. Afterwards I would feel energized and ready to conquer the day. Which would be a good thing since I would most likely have to work after practice. I was always excited to work as a lifeguard. Everyday brought something new, I could never predict what would happen. I was very grateful I never had to save a guest, some of my coworkers were not as lucky though. By far the best part about the job was getting paid. Lifeguarding was my first job, so before this summer I never really experienced how convenient it was to have cash in my pocket all the time. As you can imagine these days would exhaust me. It was a good kind of exhaustion knowing I was not wasting my days away. Falling back into my comfortable bed at the end of these days was the most rewarding part of all.
One of my personal practices represents Franklin’s virtue of moderation. Similar to Franklin, I believe that everything should be done in moderation. My mother first taught me this from a young age when it came to desserts. Every kid absolutely loves desserts and junk food, and of course, that is all I ever wanted to eat. I craved sugar every second of the day, but my mother only allowed special treats sporadically. These treats were small, but it satisfied my desire for unhealthy food. As I grew up, I chose what I wanted to eat and when I wanted to eat, but my mother to this day encourages me to eat one treat a day. For as long as I can remember, she was always lecturing that, “Every thing in moderation,” should be the rule. Now I incorporate that into my every day life. I refrain from repeating and exhausting activities by always trying something new. This really helps me appreciate whenever I do allow myself to do something. For example, I only occasionally go to the mall because if I went every weekend, it would not be as fun. Now when I go, I look forward to it and am not bored because I have early seen anything. Repetition creates monotony so by practicing moderation, the virtue and skill that my mother imposed on me as a young child, I avoid monotony and savor the little things.
Anonymous AndreaL Yellow said...
One of Benjamin Franklin’s commonly quoted aphorisms is, “The early bird catches the worm.” My family has many practices that are driven by this aphorism. They range from who gets the last piece of pizza to decorating our house. This aphorism is clearly seen when we decorate for the holiday season. We have a custom of putting up our outdoor Christmas lights Thanksgiving weekend. My dad and I go into the attic and pull out all our lights. We then spend one day, during our break, to string all the lights. No one else in the neighborhood hangs their lights up yet. Most of the neighbors think we are too early; however, I think we are not at all. There are many good things that come from putting up our lights so early. First of all, it is a little warmer out than it will be in the middle of December. All our lights are hung before the cold of winter completely comes and the snow begins to fall. For the past couple of years, we have fortunately had very nice weather to work in. Another bonus is that we are all put in the Christmas mood a little earlier. Everyone seems to be in a more giving and jolly mood around Christmas. By putting up the lights earlier, my neighbors and family all seem to find this Christmas spirit. This allows for a build up to a great holiday season. Thirdly, our beautiful decorations set a president for all the others. There is no competition for who has the best lights, but everyone picks a favorite. If we all try to be the best we can be, then why not push others by showing them how great you can be. As Ben Franklin realized, there are many good things that come from being early and first. This aphorism does not only apply to this one family tradition in my life, but it applies to everything I do. If I do everything I need to in a timely manner and as an example for others, I will receive many great things.
“Well done is better than well said.”As I was scrolling through the list of sayings, I stumbled upon this one and I realized that this aphorism is one that I found I could relate to myself and my family the most out of all of them. As simple as this saying is, I realized that this was saying to do what my whole family has been taught and strives to do. This belief is something that my parents learned from their parents and now have passed on to me. Simply put, this aphorism states that actions speak louder than words. In my family and I assume a lot of families, a job well done is better than talking about how good a job is going to be done. This belief is something my parents have really stressed to myself and my brothers and I think we have all followed it pretty well. I try to follow this by just trying to the right thing and maybe I will be a good example for someone else. This aphorism says to me that doing the right things is way more important than saying the right thing or talking about doing the right thing.
Benjamin Franklin had thirteen values that he tried to follow week after week to become a more moral person. One such value is frugality, which is the lack of wastefulness, especially with money. My family and I practice frugality throughout our lives by trying to limit our expenses. Since my mother came from the Philippines, a third-world country, saving money was very important to her when she was young. She has always taught my brother and me to spend only on what is needed. My mother still buys groceries and furniture that have “name brands,” but she tries her best to get those brands when they are on sale. We all eat out at restaurants as little as possible to save as much as possible on food. At those few times that we eat at restaurants, I tend to order the less expensive items on the menu. When we decided to replace my kitchen’s countertops with granite, we chose the cheapest style that would match my kitchen’s theme and last long. Lastly, my brother, who is a natural businessman, finds the best deals that do not at first seem to stand out whenever he shops online for something. All of these actions add up to my family’s practice of frugality, and Ben Franklin would probably have been pleased that we are upholding one of his values well.
“God Helps them that help themselves”
Benjamin Franklin was nothing short of a hard-working man and is a true Father of our nation. The aphorism, “God helps them who help themselves”, I believe truly displays Ben Franklin’s moral standards as well as his determined desire to succeed. In the same sense this quote is related to my Dad, or you could even say, my entire family’s occupation. My Dad owns a small business by the name of HP Motors, Incorporated and has since he had graduated from college. This was of course a great risk but he, despite the many obstacles, was not reluctant to embrace the challenge. My dad has the desire for success, as well as the rest of my family. My mom handles much of the financial part of the business, while my two brothers and soon myself, worked for HP Motors, Inc. throughout high school. We do anything we can to help out when ever help is wanted, or simply needed. Many sacrifices are made as one would expect when owning a small business. When my Dad receives a call for a job, it does not matter if it is a Wednesday or Sunday, 2 p.m. or 2 a.m., he instantly accepts. There have been times when my family was in the car, ready to go on our vacation to Maine, when suddenly the phone rings, and just like that the week’s plans are drastically altered. My parents are hard-workers, they have the desire to succeed and provide the best life possible for me along with my two brothers and two sisters. We are helping ourselves. Now, I am definitely not saying that one must own a business or skip a family vacation to be “helping themselves.” My point simply is that we cannot just pray to God to bring us success. We must work for it. We must make sacrifices for it. We must earn it. As long as we are truly giving our very best efforts down here on Earth, God will take care of us. I believe, as I think Benjamin Franklin believed, that God will provide for those of whom deserve to be provided. “God helps those that help themselves.”
Of all the things a person does, making plans is one of the most important things a person could do. Like everyone else, I make plans for myself to help me move along in a timely manner. A most common plan that I create is a plan to finish homework after school after each school day. I create plans to guide me along my work and to finish it on time. Many factors go into my plans. Such factors include: extracurricular activities, amount of work, type of work, distractions, and random events. I do this because I can never finish any work on time without a plan. I determine the time needed for each subject. For simple matters, such as worksheets or journals, I allot fifteen minutes for that subject. Longer projects require more time. More complicated projects also require more time. These projects require around forty five minutes. Due dates also factor in. The earlier the due date, the higher the priority the project is. The later the due date, the homework is less likely to be completed first. These plans help me to organize my time properly. It also helps me to finish all of my various works expediently.
Benjamin Franklin had a list of 13 virtues that he believed we should all live by. Humility was among the 13 virtues listed. My mom and dad have always taught me the importance and impact humility can have. No matter great of an accomplishment we achieve, we should never brag and flaunt it. My mom and dad taught me that we should not brag to the world about something we might have achieved. My parents told me that we should instead show humility and want to achieve more. We should definitely be proud of our achievements, but we should never flaunt it around like we think we are better than everyone else. My parents always told me that we can be pride of our accomplishments and still show humility at the same time. We can show that humility simply by not bragging about our deeds in an outwardly conceited way. My parents have accomplished a lot in their lives, but I never hear them bragging about it. They have been both very successful, but they still keep humility as a part of their daily lives. They have constantly told me and my brothers that we should always give full credit to God when we do something great. We should not brag about our deeds because there’s always someone out there who has done way more than us.
Kevin Poursaied
“What is serving God? Tis doing Good to Man.”
Journal #1 Benjamin Franklin
This quote is a saying by Benjamin Franklin that I try my best to basically live out each and every day. I am by no stretch of the imagination a very dedicated Catholic or spiritual person for that matter. However, I have a very simple belief about how I and how I believe other people should live as well. I believe at the end of the day, there is a more distant God who judges us based on whether we have been genuinely good people. I don’t practice any very specific faith nor do I attend church on a regular basis, but I believe in a simplistic way of living that I think goes a long way in God’s eyes. I will be the first person to say that a random act of kindness is much more beneficial to you and others than mindlessly reciting a prayer. I am not, nor would I ever, talk negatively of someone else’s spiritual beliefs, but I have always been one to say that being the best person you can possibly be is a more important aspect of living than praying could ever be. A balance between the two is a very healthy way to live out your life in my personal opinion.
“After crosses and losses, men grow humbler and wiser.” I feel that this aphorism of Ben Franklin truly represents life. In the past few years, my family has experienced the loss of both of my mom’s parents. A lot of the time, when people experience the loss of a loved one, they turn to their faith and God. Personally, I feel as if through all of the grief and anger, my family and I find comfort through the fact that we will eventually see my grandparents again. We also find peace in knowing, although we wish that we could still be with them here, they are in a better place together, and they are looking out for us. This experience also makes us wiser because it shows that God gives and God takes away. We can only hope that through everything he has a greater plan and purpose in mind for us. And everything, the good and the bad, defines who we are and changes the way we act and perceive the world around us. We grow humbler from this because it displays the fragility of life. It shows us that we are not invincible, and someday we too will die. However, we have to enjoy every moment we spend with each other because you never know when it will be taken away.
“Work while it is called today for you know not how much you may be hindered tomorrow.”
This aphorism has played a big part in my entire academic life. This aphorism’s meaning is that you shouldn’t put off work because you can never know how much more work or what can get in the way of doing your work the next day. This plays a role in my life because this is the dilemma I face just about every single night I’m doing my homework. I almost always leave homework for the morning at school, which I often don’t even finish. Not only that, but putting off homework for the morning stresses me out really badly and it affects my mood for the rest of the day. Sometimes though, when I’m doing my homework I make the opposite judgment call. I think over what doing my homework the next day can put me through and I decide how much stress it can give me. I finally make the right choice, and then the next day I have a relaxing and easy going day. These are the days that I actually get the chance to enjoy my school day and not associate it with so much stress. Benjamin Franklin is definitely a good example when it comes to his aphorisms and his virtues that often play a big part in my everyday life.
There was a very recent situation related to Halloween that represents one of Franklin’s aphorisms: “Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.” This aphorism is often accepted in my family, especially with me and my three younger brothers. The situation related to this aphorism began when my youngest brother, Todd, came home with a lot of candy after he was out for Halloween. The next day I took one of his big bags of skittles hoping he would not notice. Unfortunately, one of my other brothers, Sean, saw me take the skittles so I had to make him promise not to tell anyone. In addition, Todd quickly noticed that one of his big bags of skittles was missing. As a result, he was very mad so he got all mad at Sean because he thought that he took. Sean, not keeping his word, told Todd that it was me. Therefore, Todd ended up screaming at me for taking his skittles. In the end, I apologized to Todd for taking his candy and had to give him a dollar. It will be the last time I take any candy from Todd. Also, I will not be able to trust Sean to keep me out of trouble any more, unless he is dead.
B. “Well done is better than well said.”
Being a practicing Roman Catholic is a huge pillar of my life. It plays a vital role in everything I do, and is the source of reason for all my actions. In being a Roman Catholic, it is asked of me that I help the poor and the less fortunate. This is how Benjamin Franklin’s words of “Well done is better than well said” come into play. In today’s society, it is easy to say that you feel bad for the poor or that you pray for the poor, but there comes a time in life when you need to ask yourself “What are you doing for the poor?” I asked myself this question over the summer and realized that I wasn’t doing much of anything for those who are less fortunate than I. I stopped saying that the needy are in my prayers and decided to actually do something about it. I signed up for this program called Pitcher and Basin, which takes a group of youths over to Cambridge Maryland to help build a house for the poor through Habitat for Humanity. Also, on the trip, I got the opportunity to go to the neighborhood service center to feed and clothe the poor. It was one of the most rewarding experiences I have ever been apart of in my life. To be able to say that I helped the poor first hand feels much better than to say that I pray for the poor. Like Franklin said, “Well done is better than well said.”
Ben Franklin, an old man when he wrote his autobiography, wanted to reach the goal of moral perfection. His approach to reach this goal was different than one may assume. He composed a list of thirteen virtues that he would like to consummate and practiced each separately. When he believed to have done something immoral, he would have marked a black dot in a little book that he carried around. In my household, I can be compared to Ben Franklin. I create lists to reach my goals. Most of the time, my lists consist of projects that I would like to be done by my father. My father undertakes the challenges given to him one by one. Ben Franklin’s ambition for moral perfection can be compared to my attempt for a perfect house; he did not reach his goal nor will my I. Perfection is unattainable by humans. My father completes most of the projects that I give him, but they are not done to the standards that I was expecting. Unlike Franklin, I do not note when my father completes a task insufficiently in a little book. Although Franklin’s objective was more far-fetched, the two scenarios can be somewhat compared in the order to achieve a goal.
"God helps those who help themselves"
The aphorism “God helps those who help themselves” has been used multiple times in my family. Most people who have faith in God believe that if I pray to God to help this person or do this I can sit back and wait for God to take care of it. We seem to forget that God does not do things for us, but gives us the opportunity to do these things ourselves. For example, if we pray to God to allow us to do well on a test God does not just hand you a good grade, but gives us the opportunity to study or prepare for the test. We attempt to take advantage of our belief in God by acting like He is a slave to our will. It is as if we command God to do things for us instead of trying to contribute to a cause on our own. We ask God to feed the hungry yet we don’t bring food to food shelters or provide our own service to assist those who are hungry. We believe that God will do everything we ask him to do, but we should be the ones to change the lives of others as well as ourselves.
Journal 1 : Ben Franklin
C. I played freshman football last year and was all ready to go for my next season. But then I suffered a concussion and was forced to stop my training for months. When I was finally cleared to train again, I still had balance issues that I would need therapy for. Finally, after several more months of therapy, I was ready to be cleared to train again. I was ecstatic. But there was one problem: I was swamped in schoolwork and extracurricular work and didn't see how I could fit my training in. I decided to take a page out of Franklin's book and use a schedule to plan out each day. I was shocked when I found that I could fit in two hours of training almost every day, with time left over for leisure. I then proceeded to map out the specifics of my schedule, like which particular aspect I would focus on each day and what exercises I would do for each aspect. This also helped me in that I knew I could find a friend to work out with because I knew what times I would go to the gym each day. Now everything I do is planned out and scheduled ahead of time, and my life—all aspects of it—is running much more smoothly and efficiently.
“There are no gains without pains.”
The theme of this aphorism of Benjamin Franklin is that success usually doesn’t come easily and it can be a struggle to achieve a goal. This is one of my favorite quotes that I like to say. I often say it to motivate others or myself. I am faced with challenges on a daily basis so I have experience with the theme of this aphorism. This theme can be applied to my academics. There is always the possibility to not do homework or other assignments that a teacher may have assigned. This way out seems easy but can be stressful in the long run. To receive good grades, I must stay on track and stay focused. If I get a bad grade, I know that I have not worked to the best of my ability. These bumps in the road motivate me even more to achieve good grades and work hard. When I work hard and make sacrifices, I am usually rewarded by good grades, which are rewarding. In sports, I have had injuries or other obstacles that have prevented me from playing. It can be very frustrating to be injured and watch your team from the sidelines. When I am injured, this aphorism stays in the back of my head as I try to become healthy again. Even though I could be healthy and ready to play, there is always a chance of the injury occurring again. To prevent an incident like this, I must do exercises and follow any other recommendations to keep the injury from happening again. This may be a difficult task and I may not feel like doing it, but it will have positive effects. I also must be committed to any sport that I am playing even though it may occupy much of my time. If I work with coaches and teammates, I will have success. Even though it may seem too much work to face challenges or pains, in the long run, the prize will be fulfilling and satisfying. I will try to continue to live the theme of this aphorism and it will always be a source of motivation for my life.
One of Benjamin Franklin’s thirteen virtues is frugality which, in Ben Franklin’s words, means “Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself. Waste nothing.” My family and I are firm believers in this virtue whether we acknowledge it or not. Very rarely do we waste anything. We almost always eat every bit of leftovers whether it be for breakfast, lunch, or even the following night. We are always productive with time. You will seldom see a Megahed doing nothing or something of no use. My family is very efficient and diligent. We are not quitters. When we do not have anything to do we find something to do. A story that pertains to the virtue of frugality is when my family decided to clean out our entire pantry. It was full of old and unused food, medicine, paper towels, and all kinds of other things. We spent about three hours cleaning everything out and we found a use for almost everything. We even let my sister make some pictures with leftover dried out foods. Me and my entire family were very proud of our productive efforts to clean out the pantry. Overall, I think that frugality is exercised well by my family and I think it is one of the most important factors to success.
Last year I made a goal for myself. I wanted to phase up into all of the highest phases in St. Mark’s. Even though at the end of the year I had put in some phase change request forms, some of them did not go through. This school year I came right in and went to my new guidance counselor and told her exactly what I wanted to do. I worked very hard to get all of the phasing done. It was a lot of work just to do that. I finally got to all my new classes and I felt so accomplished and excited. I was so happy. When I got to each of my new classes, I didn’t realize that all of them were ahead by so much. I made yet another promise to myself that I would do absolutely anything that it would take to get all that work made up and get the best grades I could even through all of that. All the work was made up in the reasonable fashion that my teachers like but my grades weren’t what I would have liked them to be. I have made a new goal for myself so that I get the best grades I possibly can. My hope is to get at least all B’s and three A’s this quarter and the next quarter hopefully all A’s. The plan that I have is to constantly be studying or doing whatever else school related I can do. I will do whatever it takes to reach this goal.
1. One of Ben Franklin's virtues is temperance. This basically means to have moderation in things or to have self control. My family doesn't practice this very well. But, since I was very young, my mother used to tell me, "You can have everything in moderation." This concept applied mostly with food in my family though I've now come to realize that it can apply to other things too. If someone's giving you a hard time, and you're angry, you might just want to tell them off. But with the virtue of temperance, you can restrain yourself from that. This helps you to be more Christ like in almost everything that you do. If you are focusing on having this virtue of temperance, you are thinking things through more often and more clearly, and it prevents you from making impulse decisions. This can also apply to very different things, for example, shopping. You could choose to have the self control to not spend all your money on useless things or “not spend it all in one place” as some people say and save it, or the alternative, you could spend it all and have none left for when you really need it.
In my family we always try to be humble. I was always taught that humility is a very strong quality and that it is important to have. Nobody likes someone who is cocky but everybody can respect somebody who is humble. My mom always tried to instill humility in me from day one.She is a very smart person but she does not brag about it. She lets her actions do all the talking. I have learned to try and let my actions speak louder than my words in all things I do such as academics and sports. Without humility any accomplishment becomes a little less special.Humility should be something that everybody tries to practice, even if they do not have a great talent. Athletes, artists, and just regular people all should be humble. Being humble is definitely not easy for some people. In my familiy though, everyone at least tries to be. Support from others always helps in being humble and that is what my family does, we build each other up so that we do not have to build up ourselves. Confidence is also an important part of being humble. You want to be confident in whatever you are doing, but you also want to be humble after you succeed. Even if you do not succeed you should always be gracious and humble and that is somewthing I have known and have been working on for 15 years now.
When the Well's Dry
I think that I can relate to Benjamin Franklin's aphorism "When the well's dry, we know the worth of water." When my family lived in Bermuda, rain would seep through holes in the roof into an underground tank. This water was then sent to our showers, baths, and sinks. We bought our drinking water, for the water in our tank was not really safe to drink. However, if there was ever a drought, we would have no water with which to wash ourselves. We would have to use hand sanitizer instead of soap and water to wash our hands. We then realized how much water was really worth in a literal sense. We could also relate to his aphorism in a metaphorical sense. If we lost power in a hurricane or storm, our sinks and showers would not work either because the tanks require electricity to pump the water to our sinks. We had to use hand sanitizer to wash our hands and we had to manually flush our toilets using buckets of water from the underground tank. This made us realize the true worth of electricity. These two situations showed us how true and meaningful Benjamin Franklin's aphorism is.
My family can uphold many of Franklin’s aphorisms. The aphorism “three may keep a secret if two of them are dead” is most relatable to my family. Most of the time I can happily say I have a very close family. For the most part this is a good thing, but it can be annoying at times. I know that I can go to anyone in my family for anything. If I’m upset, or I just have a ridiculous story I’m dying to tell my family is always there to listen. As the aphorism says, there are no secrets in my family, especially between my sister and me. This is mostly a good thing, whenever I need someone she’s there, however she finds out about things I’d rather she didn’t know. If I ever get a bad grade or am upset with a friend my family always finds out and feels the need to state their opinion on the matter. Sometimes I wish this was kept a secret. I am also a very nosy person. If there is a secret, I can easily find out. My parents can try to hide things from my sister and me but we will most likely find out. Overall I pretty much love the fact that my family is so close. At times it does get annoying but I know they will always be there for me whenever I need them.
The virtue which I embody the most is resolution. Simply put, I get things done. If you give me a job, I complete it. I am hard-working and determined. These qualities have been instilled upon me by all of my family from a very young age. Both my parents have worked hard to get where they are and still work tirelessly day-in and day-out to provide for our family. They might not always realize it, but I recognize and appreciate that. I have been always been one to get things done. Whether it’s doing my homework (ironically), or blocking a guy in football, I do what needs to be done, and I do it right. Now, I am not saying I always do things the most effective way because I definitely don’t. I can be stubborn and hard-headed. I don’t always take other peoples advice into consideration. I often have to fail at something a couple times before I try a new strategy. However, no matter how long it takes, I grind it out. I do not rest until the job is done. The bottom line is, my parents have made me into the kind of person that no matter how stubbornly or ineffectively I do something, in the end, I get it done.
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