Author: Abry Steinbrecher

Hello, it is day 9 with moral perfection and it is almost over! I can’t believe it. I have come so far since the beginning and I truly feel like this experiment has changed me even if it was doing little things, because now I know what it feels like to accomplish something for myself repeatedly. There is one day left of this journey and I have been trying to think of ways I can end on a good note. As each day goes on I have noticed that I try and practice different virtues for different days but sometimes without knowing, I am working on them all. My confidence has been getting better because I have been writing in my journal nightly good things about my day and self. Forgiveness has been better, I haven’t been getting so mad at my family for certain things. Although, one thing I did today that I wish I didn’t was buying Chipotle. With frugality I have been trying to save money by eating more at home and not out, but today that fell through. My room has been extra tidy and so has my car which is great for my cleanliness virtue! I am hoping tomorrow, with it being the last day I can feel confident and content about my progress on this journey. 

It is now day 8 and I have had a very lazy day today. I babysat after school and honestly just wasn’t really feeling the motivation like I usually do. Instead of feeling bad about wanting to lay in bed and take a nap I decided to forgive myself because I deserved it. I think it’s 100% OK to have lazy days and not do what you normally do. It’s hard to try and do my best every day all day. I noticed that even by having lazy days I can still work on virtues. Overall, I am feeling like this experiment has been changing me for the better. I haven’t been as anxious when I am alone while working on my independence, I have been forgiving myself easier and people around me, and many more that I will get into tomorrow and the day after that. I am feeling good today but also sort of bad that I didn’t do as much as I could’ve, but there is always tomorrow!

It is Monday and I feel like I have been keeping up pretty good with my virtues and remembering how each of them will make me better even if I am feeling too lazy. I decided I needed something different to keep up with these and I came up with an idea to set a reminder on my phone with all my virtues. With cleanliness I have typically been focusing on keeping my things all tidy but then I realized that helping people around me will make me feel just the same. So, I helped my mom with the backyard and decided to do the dishes before she got home. It made her elated which made me happy that she was happy. I am hoping that tomorrow I can do something for my dad or possibly my siblings. I also worked on forgiveness with my family because as I am sure everyone knows, it can be hard to get along with family members living under the same roof 24/7. My sister and I were arguing over whose turn it was to do the laundry and instead of continuing the fight I decided to just stop talking and do it myself. Then I forgave her for her rude attitude. I would say today was overall a 10/10. 

Today I have been really working on my independence. These past few days I have been stressed and overwhelmed. I have been feeling like I have to please everyone around me but I also need to realize that I need to please myself first. It can be hard to be alone sometimes. For me, it can cause anxiety, a lot of over-thinking and self reflection time. But spending time with only myself today, even for a few hours I feel better. It did make me anxious for a little bit but then I remembered at the end of the day I only have myself and I am happy about that. You are your only friend and your relationship with yourself is what matters most. So today that is what I worked on.

Day 5 with moral perfection and today was a great day. I mainly focused on confidence but I incorporated my other virtues as well such as Frugality. Instead of spending money on things that I don’t need, I went shopping with my mom and got things that I really do need. It was helpful to go with my mom rather than alone because I would’ve spent money on things that wouldn’t financially help me. I also wrote in my journal again before bed and I decided to make a list of all the things that I like about myself instead of things I don’t. This list was hard to come up with but after reading it over and over I began to feel better about myself and even slightly more confident. This was a great step because things will slowly come and get better, nothing just comes with a snap of a finger.

It is day four and I think I am mainly going to focus on cleanliness today. I have not been doing the best at keeping my room and car clean but I remembered how happy I will be in the end when I pull through with all of my accomplishments. So once again I cleaned my car again but hey that is all okay because even though you are down sometimes it is always great to be able to pull yourself back up. That is just a little something that I learned while practicing forgiveness.

Day three and things are settling in. As each day goes by I am finding new ways to work on myself. However, this morning I did something I have been trying not to do. I went to a local coffee shop and spent money on breakfast and coffee. I have been working on Frugality and not overspending on things that I don’t need but apparently this morning I decided it was ok. Even though I made a mistake I now feel regret and so I am hoping that it doesn’t happen again. Here and there it is ok but every single day buying food and things I don’t need will not benefit me. I did forgive myself for the mistake and decided I deserved it. It’s been a hard day so I am glad I could treat myself, and know not to do that every day.

It is day 2 of moral perfection and I have been finding new ways to achieve my goals. My car is still clean and today I am working on my bedroom. Cleaning sheets, organizing clothes and books will help me to feel even better. Tonight, I am planning on making dinner with my mom instead of spending my money on food down the street. I wrote in my journal again before bed and it felt refreshing to reflect on my day again. It is definitely better for me to write my words down on paper because sometimes I can get caught up in my own thoughts which can make me unmotivated and down. Today, I was mean to my sister because of something she took from my room and instead of continuing to blow up on her I decided to forgive her and let her have another chance. Although it was hard to do this I am glad I did because the outcome was greater.

Today I have been thinking about the first way I can work on my virtues. My first idea was to clean out my car and get it washed so I did just that. I took it to the Waterway on State Line and paid to get it cleaned inside and out. This is a way for me to get a fresh start with cleanliness. I can now keep it up by throwing away all the trash from now on and not leaving my clothes and other useless objects lying around inside. My mom was quite proud of me for doing so and it felt good to have things clean and not dread getting into my sticky car. To end my night, I wrote in my journal the good things from the day and the bad. I reflected on myself and forgave myself for mistakes. This also helps me work on my independence. Writing in my journal before bed gives me time for myself that is hard to gain during the long busy days.

 I have had many opportunities in my life to perfect myself, and be a person who I truly adore but for an odd reason I save changing myself for tomorrow. It’s about time things change and I am using this blog to share my progress. Ben Franklin’s virtues are guides to building character and I admire his motivation to become a finer person. The 13 virtues that he came up with from the 1700’s are still relevant today and can be used to help each and every one of us. This is my journey of perfecting myself and becoming the best version of myself that I can be. Welcome!

       I chose five virtues that I am going to live by and work on to be a healthier person and here they are. Cleanliness, Frugality, Independence, Forgiveness, and Confidence. I carefully looked and thought about things I need to work on and currently these five are the most important ones. Each one of these virtues have different approaches in order to be successful. For example, with cleanliness, instead of leaving trash from the recent fast food in my car, I will bring it inside and throw it away. Frugality, I will make my meals more often instead of spending money as if it grows in my backyard. Independence, I will make more time just for myself to reset and recharge so I don’t feel as overwhelmed from the activities of life. Forgiveness, I need to work on forgiving myself and people around me and get the validation and love from within myself. Last but not least there is confidence. This one I will focus on the good about myself instead of picking myself apart. These are just a few examples of how I can achieve my goals of being the best me. Stick around, and watch my journey through this experiment of changing myself! 

        My hopes for this journey is that I can learn something new about myself. I hope I can find out what makes me happy and what doesn’t and what makes me feel the best. I am excited to see how I do and to see myself at the end of this. I am looking forward to finally changing what I need to and not holding it off. I know that I might feel lazy sometimes and down about doing what I have been wanting to do, but with this I think it will teach me to just get up and do it. To do instead of say or want. Here’s to new beginnings.