My Road to Moral Improvement
Being assigned to challenge myself morally for the next couple of weeks will both test and improve my everyday routine and mindset. Just as Franklin believed and practiced virtues that would better himself, he proved that if one were to select a few weaknesses or rather hone in on what someone would want to change about themselves, they could grow as a person and change their life. Seeing how balanced Franklin managed to make his life by dedicating himself to following certain virtues, he has motivated me to do the same. I am prepared to struggle in the beginning with breaking old habits, but I am stimulated and driven by success and am motivated to see similar results as Franklin did. I am excited and eager to see my progress when I am finished, which will encourage me to follow through on my journey. Both Franklin and I are alike in the sense that we both wanted to try self-evaluation and improvement at one point in our life, and at the end of the experiment, I will be able to say that just like him, I will have documentation of my efforts in changing my morals.
Consequently, I have evaluated what I need to work on most in my life and came to the conclusion that it’s related to stress and negativity. I carefully chose a few of Franklin’s virtues and my own, which are: moderation, tranquility, academic acceptance, patience, and passion. Having chosen these five virtues, it’s important for me to explain and reflect on my reason for why I selected them. First off, practicing moderation and tranquility both go hand and hand for ways to reduce stress. I tend to push myself too hard, whether that’s academically or athletically and never let my mind or body catch a break. When I am not busy, I tell myself that I need to be productive rather than lying down and giving myself time to recharge. I have noticed that this is an unhealthy habit that needs to be broken, so I will be having the same mindset as Franklin, who believes that everyone should set aside time to rest in order to get things done. I will be altering my mindset similar to his, and will be achieving his way of thinking by providing at least half an hour anytime after school for me to lie down in my bed, possibly light some candles and let my brain temporarily turn off. Using this strategy will hopefully let my brain slow down and take each day moderately and positively. Secondly, I will be practicing academic acceptance and patience, which seem to be consuming me the most, especially negativity regarding academics. I tend to have an a-type personality, and I have set such high standards for myself in school, putting internal pressure on myself that has ruled my mind. I panic when I see two B’s on my quarter report card, or even getting any grade in general besides an A. Patience is another important virtue that I need to practice, which I need to work on in school, specifically in math. I am hard on myself for not being the best at math, and constantly comparing myself to others, never giving myself enough credit or time to learn a new concept. I need to understand that math doesn’t come easily to everyone, and that I need to be patient with myself that it takes me slightly longer to learn new topics in math. I will apply patience to my everyday life by taking a few deep breaths, and tackling one concept at a time. Lastly, passion is something I need to incorporate into my life. I am involved in multiple extracurriculars all of which I love, but I can’t see myself pursuing every extracurricular in the future. I want and need to discover what I truly love and am passionate about so I can pursue that and hopefully learn from it. I believe that when I find one or two things that I am passionate about, it will change my perspective on life. I will apply strategies such as focusing one one extracurricular that I can see myself having a true passion and future with such as photography, and set a reminder on my phone to go outside and shoot something.
As a result, I yearn for only positive outcomes and exponential improvements. I want to be able to see a visible change in my attitude, and I want my friends and peers to notice as well. I hope to become more optimistic and calm so I can teach others how to do the same. During this journey, I predict that I will most definitely face hardships such as wanting to give up and a lack of motivation, but as I mentioned before, I have a perfectionist and routine oriented personality, so I am confident that I will successfully practice these virtues religiously. By the end of this, I am ecstatic to see my progress and I know that I will be happy that I was assigned to blog and interact with my classmates during my road to moral improvement.
I really like that you were able to connect Franklin to yourself in a personal way. I also chose two of the virtues that you had chosen as well. Your reasonings for choosing moderation and tranquility are very similar to mine. I also often become stressed, and I think these virtues can help me too. Although our methods differ, I am eager to see the results for the both of us!
I really liked how you related yourself to Benjamin Franklin, as it was detailed and specific, and shows how you’re both passionate about self-improvement! I came from your comment on my post, and I’m happy to see that we both are taking time to work on moderation and tranquility as school continues to get more stressful. I’m excited to see how we both change these virtues in us!