So supposedly Benjamin Franklin had a self-improvement program that included 13 different virtues that he thought guided people to becoming a good people. After taking a virtue test’s, three different virtues came up that the website recommended I work on (Twin Cities Public Television, Inc., 2002) . The three that I will talk about include temperance, order, and cleanliness.
The first virtue that I can improve upon is temperance, where the website mentioned “as a young man, Ben tried not to drink too much. Maybe you should consider being the designated driver next time you go out partying” (Twin Cities Public Television, Inc., 2002) . As soon as I read this, I thought no way. It’s said that “habitual light to moderate alcohol intake (up to 1 drink per day for women and I or 2 drinks per day for men) is associated with decreased risks for total mortality, coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, and stroke” (O'Keefe, Bhatti, Bajwa, DiNicolantonio, & Lavie, 2014) . Plus, living in Europe, I like to do as the Romans do and have a glass of wine or other alcoholic beverage on most nights. So why not drink?
The second virtue is order, which the website stated “Ben followed the maxim ‘a place for everything and everything in its place.’ It may be time to clean out the backseat of that car of yours” (Twin Cities Public Television, Inc., 2002) . This is true and is usually something I keep in my everyday life. However coincidentally, I just moved properties and I happen to have a bunch of donations that I’m trying to get rid of in the back of my car. Between work and school, it’s something I’m slowly working on, as it is difficult finding the time and energy sorting it all out (I’m still sorting out my new flat).
The third virtue is cleanliness, where supposedly “Ben wrote ‘tolerate no uncleanness in body, clothes or habitation.’ You might benefit from spending more time cleaning on a regular basis” (Twin Cities Public Television, Inc., 2002) . Similar to the second virtue, this is something that I would like to do and implement more into my life. There was a video I watched about why we should care about making our beds, which has many benefits like feeling a sense of pride, accomplishing the first task of the day, or feeling good after a bad day (McRaven, 2016) . Since attending basic military training, this is something that I’ve adopted into my life. That said, I do usually go bigger and clean everything from body, clothes, and habitation. That said, after moving to a new flat I’ve found that things have gotten incredibly messy. With a lot of personal stressors in my life I haven’t been on top of things, but slowly I’m getting my life back together.
The three virtues that were recommended to be to improve upon were temperance, order, and cleanliness. While I don’t think the first virtue is something I’ll exercise, the other two are ones that I need to improve upon. Right now I’ve got a lot going on so I’ve been neglecting those virtues however there is hope and a light at the end of the tunnel.
References
McRaven, W. H. (2016, February 16). If you want to change the world, start to make your bed every morning. Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTlhfjjEWD0
O'Keefe, J. H., Bhatti, S. K., Bajwa, A., DiNicolantonio, J. J., & Lavie, C. J. (2014). Alcohol and cardiovascular health: the dose makes the poison ... or the remedy. Mayo Clinic proceedings, 89(3), 382.
Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. (2002). Virtue Quiz. Retrieved 2015, from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/exp_virtue.html
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