Day #11 – 11/18/21

I’m not going to lie, this day was probably one of the hardest and most stressful I’ve had throughout the duration of this blog, and with that I’ll try to be gentle on my failures, as as much as one tries to control emotions it’s hard; I ended up just riding them out. In regards to Regulation, I’m really happy with the general progress I’ve made, though I think my sleep schedule is shifting and I don’t quite know how I feel about that (considering it’s shifting towards school hours when a break is about to happen). As well, I only used my phone for about 5-10 minutes before bed, and then went to bed soon after. I do wish to eliminate the habit in entirety, but going from hours to minutes is a pretty large step. In regards to Resolution, I realized today that once I have a clear and concise plan for my difficult work, I do well with completing it. Specifically, I learned that for chemistry, and was able to complete what I wished to complete. As well, I’ve been better on setting out when I’m hanging out with friends, and my limits on such. In regards to Enjoyment, I’ve been trying my best, but in general it’s hard to find success in it each day, as I have to figure out what I want to do with my time in the first place, and that’s already difficult. Spending time with friends is where I got most of the Enjoyment this day, but I also had a really nice FaceTime call with my sister. In regards to Awareness, I’ve not only been better about recognizing my skin-picking, but also other nervous habits, and I participated in few of them throughout the day despite the stress I’ve been feeling. My weakest was definitely Sincerity, but I always find it hard to be Sincere when having an anxiety attack, and I think the fact that I recognized that difficulty during the moment was progress enough. However, I wish I could find it in myself to be a bit more open about it afterward, as I know sometimes I concern the individuals without the intention to do so.

Sleep Log

8:56 – Ended Call with Sister
9:02 – Milk
9:17 – Pajamas + In Bed + Lights Of

9:39 – 6:17 AM – 8:38 Hours – 87 Sleep Score, One Notable Wake Up (1:56 – 2:15)

Tomorrow, I hope to continue my pattern of Awareness. As well, I think I simply need some time to reflect on my general social life and priorities, as of now I feel discombobulated and I think that is generally causing me to be weak in regards to Sincerity. As well, after the course of this blog I wish to further work on recognizing what brings me joy, and continue my nightly schedule Regulation.

Post 6: November 18

Today was just like any other Thursday. Late start is always amazing, but somehow the day seems to take forever.  After school we had our first day of basketball practice, accomplishing my physical health virtue.  We received all our gear and then transitioned into brainstorming standards we wanted to set and work on for the rest of the season, very similar to our task with our virtues.  For dinner we went out to a pizza place called 1889.  It was a nice break from our ordinary nights at the Eck household. This break was important because it created a balance between school and home. Although the break was nice, it affected the order of the rest of my night. I was up so late trying to catch up on work and finish homework for the next day. Since I was up so late, I just had to accept the fact that I was not going to get a lot of sleep. I did not spend a ton of time in my room today so I managed to keep it pretty clean.

Nicholas Karr – Day 10

Industry: 3
Order: 3
Flexibility: 3
Resolution: 4
Tranquility: 1

Today was a difficult day for my virtues. I’m done with feeling sick, but the work still stacked up. My tranquility rating is low because I spent a lot of time worrying about a science test. In the end, I did fine on it so it wasn’t really a valuable concern. It’s very difficult to strike a balance between being legitimately concerned and too anxious. I have a better score for both industry and order because I studied for it about as well as possible. Resolution is high because I spent a while after school working on a long-term project. It will continue throughout Thanksgiving break. That will also be a great chance to refine my tranquility and go on a nice road trip. Finally, my flexibility is a 3 because I successfully adapted to the test I was taking.

Post 5: November 17

Today is the day I finally tackled my messy room. Although it is not perfect, I am able to say I achieved my virtue of cleanliness for the day.  After school I had my final day of basketball tryouts.  I know I will be able to continue to work on my virtue of physical health because we will have practice everyday.  At the end of tryouts we were told our teams, but before finding out I had already accepted the results because there was nothing I could change now. It would have been unnecessary stress to worry about something out of my control at that point. Tonight I was able to relax. I balanced my crazy week with a night to just decompress and not worry about school. 

Post 4: November 16

Today I was able to achieve the majority of my virtues.  During seminar, I took a physics quiz I had missed from being absent the previous week, and then I completed my math homework.  I was able to achieve my virtue order through my productivity and efforts towards school.  Just like yesterday, I had basketball tryouts again which checked physical health off my list of things to work on.  After getting home for the night, I studied for my physics test. I completed all of the review and accepted the grade I was going to get on the test because I had done all the preparation I could do.  Without a surprise, my room is still messy with a suitcase and clothes scattered everywhere so cleanliness still needs to be more of a priority. 

Post 3: November 15

Today was a struggle. After being awake for 22 hours the previous day, I had to push through school. I understood that I needed to go to school because I had already missed a substantial amount. This reflects my virtue of order. I knew I needed to be productive and continue to work so I wouldn’t fall more behind.  After school I had the first day of basketball tryouts, so my physical health virtue was well exceeded through this vigorous event.  Although I was successful with some of the other virtues, the cleanliness of my room was lacking. I assume many can relate to the post-trip suitcase chaos.  

Post 2: November 12-14

(I was absent on a journalism trip so these days are combined) On Friday and Saturday I attended a journalism convention, and on Sunday we traveled home. At this point in the trip, my cleanliness was lacking; our hotel room was a disaster. So on Friday night we spent 10 minutes cleaning and it completely changed the atmosphere of the room.  Everyone had a feeling of relief to be staying somewhere where we could actually see the floor instead of it being covered in clothes. Similar to our previous days, they consisted of a lot of walking because it was our main mode of transportation, so physical health was achieved across the board.  While at the convention, we were tasked with assignments and had an allotted amount of time to shoot, edit, and submit our photos so order was a main focus.  Without order, I would have been unsuccessful in my submissions. Although the beginning of the week started well, Sunday was a different story.  In order to catch our flight, we had to wake up at 3 a.m. eastern time.  I needed to do homework from classes, but I was too tired to focus on any of my school work so I accepted the fact that I would not be able to complete it all in one day.  Once I finally got home I was able to do some work, however, I had a concert that night that I bought tickets for over two years ago.  This resulted in my day not being balanced at all.  I finally went to bed 22 hours after waking up for my flight that morning. 

Day 10

My tenth day of practicing virtues was one of my most successful. I woke up early to get ready and appreciate my alone time. I then went to school, worked on Order with my schoolwork and worked on silence by listening to music in my headphones during choir. I then got home and cleaned my room. Finally, I went to dinner with my brother, who has been gone at college for 4 months. This allowed me to work on my bliss virtue, and also appreciation.

Post 1: November 9-11

(I was absent on a journalism trip so these days are combined) My past three days have consisted of packing, traveling, and a ton of walking. To begin, packing can be a stressful event; it takes forever and can be tiring. To work on my virtue order, I created a list of items that I needed to bring on my trip so I could stay on top of everything. This event also included accepting that I may not be able to fit everything in my suitcase (it ended up all working out in the end…funny how that works).  The next day was full of traveling. This was a much needed break from the stress of everyday life relating to the virtue balance. Having a day where I had no concerns about doing schoolwork was very relaxing and beneficial for my mental health. Finally, we had a day full of walking, exceeding my goal of physical health.  While I suggested starting small in my introduction, I ended the day with over 20,000 steps…may be hard to beat in the future!

Day 9

This was an uneventful day, but a good opportunity to work on my virtues. I slept in, due to it being late start, and got ready a little quicker than usual. This gave me less time to work on appreciation, but I still got a little but of time in. I then went to school, and had a very easy day. In Physics I got to work on my bliss virtue because we did a fun catapult activity. I also got to work on order in Physics. After a few post-school activities, I got to go home and work on silence. Part of that was sitting down in my room and writing this blog!

Day 8 – Nov 16th

My goal for today was to focus on Productivity, as I had a lot of homework to do. I was able to have great success with Productivity, and I even worked on Cleanliness as well. In the morning, I made my bed and picked up my room for about five minutes. While the amount of time I took to work on Cleanliness was relatively small, it made a big impact on my day. After school and tennis, I put my phone away and got straight to work. I didn’t let myself touch my phone until certain assignments were done, and when I took a break, I took a short walk outside. Not only was I productive by accomplishing things and efficiently knocking out homework, I was able to spend my down time productively as well. I think today was probably my best day for Productivity so far, and I hope to have more successful days using similar strategies. 

Day 7 – Nov 15th

Today I woke up tired and in a bad mood, so I decided to take the time to do a ten minute meditation on YouTube. It really helped me reset and have a better day despite not waking up feeling my best. Being able to relax myself made Tranquility a success for the day. I also worked on Kindness by holding the door open for people whenever I could. While this is a simple act of kindness, it truly can have a positive effect on people’s days and I feel that it did. Yesterday, I cleaned my room, so there wasn’t much to work on in regards to Cleanliness. Overall, my day was alright. I do hope to get better sleep in the future, so I can avoid starting the day with a negative mindset.  

Day 8

Today was a really great day. I woke up extra early to get ready, and used this time to practice appreciating the alone time. I then went to school, and all day focused on Order and Bliss. I took the free time I had in choir to do all my homework, and spent the whole day with a positive attitude. After this, I went to musical rehearsal and had a ton of fun. I then went straight to my tutor and work on Order with my math work. I finally got to go home, have some of the pie I made the night before, and work on my silence virtue.

Luke Kounkel – Nov 18

Another day of low production, high tranquility. I was able to finish all of my remaining homework at school, and because of that, I had another relaxing day at home. I spent the majority of my time relaxing on my phone or playing video games, but after dinner I hopped on a call with some friends. Seeing as this was the last real day of the virtues project, it ended a lot less eventful than I would have hoped, but all in all, it was a good day. I got plenty of time to unwind and got an early start to the Thanksgiving break.

Rafaela Grieco-Freeman: Day 10

Thursday, November 18th, 2021

Today was an average day; I had spent quite a bit of time studying for an upcoming chemistry test and currently feel a bit restless despite late start. I am most certainly looking forward to crashing in my bed tonight, but for now, my virtues. My best virtue for the day was industry (8/10) as I worked through the entirety of my afternoon, as well as most of my school day. For temperance/moderation, I would rate myself a 5/10, since I was too busy with school work to get rarely any SAT preparation done, however, I did start to compile questions for my college visits that are upcoming this break. For productive downtime, I would rate myself a 5/10 since whenever I did take a break from my work, I just wanted to shut my brain off for the time being while I was recharging. As for my cleanliness, I would rate myself a 6/10 since once again I have decided to work at the dinner table instead of cleaning my room, however, I was able to reorganize a few of my folders/binders for school. Lastly, for tranquility, I would rate myself around a 5/10 since I have a little lingering stress for the upcoming school day, but I am keeping Thanksgiving Break as a motivator as we wind down from this virtues project. I am curious to see what will happen after I stop blogging about these virtues daily. Goodnight and see you all tomorrow! :))

Introduction

For the next two weeks, I will be attempting “moral perfection,” similar to Benjamin Franklin.  My motivation behind this blog is to become a better version of myself, to push myself.  Benjamin Franklin worked on 13 virtues, attempting a new one each week.  However, in the time frame given, I will be challenging myself with only 5 virtues, working on them all everyday.  I am creating this blog to hold myself accountable and reflect on my efforts. 

The five virtues I picked are cleanliness, order, physical health, balance, and acceptance. Following in Franklin’s footsteps, I will be challenging myself to work on cleanliness and order.  Cleanliness will be solely focused on keeping my surroundings clean. This includes my room, car, desk, etc.  Having a clean environment will allow me to be more productive which leads into my next virtue, order.  I have an extremely busy schedule so it is important to stay organized and on top of my work.  If I do not have order in my life, it creates unneeded stressors resulting in unhappiness.  To combat this, I will be writing down the tasks I need to complete that day.  My personal virtues include physical health, balance, and acceptance.  Physical health is a very important aspect in my life, but sometimes I struggle to hold myself accountable.  I plan on setting small goals for myself each day to ensure that I achieve them. As the two weeks go on I will continually challenge myself with harder goals, ultimately reaching “perfection.”  Although that may be a stretch, it is important to push myself.  Alongside physical health, I will be focusing on creating a balanced lifestyle. Everything in life has a place. Understanding how everything fits together is essential: allowing myself to have breaks but also pushing myself to achieve more. Tracking balance will be dictated on a day-to-day basis.  Finally, I will be working on acceptance. Sometimes certain things are meant to happen; I can only control so much.  Similar to order, accepting certain things in life can be beneficial and create a less stressful lifestyle. 

I truly hope that these virtues I will be working on become habits in my everyday life. While that may not be realistic, it may lead to small changes bettering my approach to life. Even if this is a complete failure, I hope you enjoy my journey of achieving moral perfection! 

Day 10 – 11/18/21

Late start was really nice today, and I got really good sleep. This was a great way to start my day. Although I was relaxed my resolution was still not very good. I think I was ready for break as I did not want to do any homework. Although I did not resolve to do much, what I did do was pretty industrious. I seemed to get what little homework I worked on done quickly. This I felt like has improved since the start of this project. I felt like my order was pretty good today because although I did not do very much homework, I still did homework, had free time, and had a doctors appointment. On moderation, I did not do very good, especially since I spent a lot of time on my phone today. This is probably because I am so ready for break also. On justice I did much better, and I think it was because I have been in a pretty good mood today, since I know that the long break is approaching. This good mood makes me feel more positively to those that I may have doubted due to how they previously acted towards me. Overall, I felt that this was a pretty good day despite my shortcomings. I still was able to meet many of my virtues even with it being one of the last days before break.

Day Ten

Today was an alright day. I had to wake up early on my usual sleep-in day because I needed to study for my physics test. I honestly think that extra time sleeping really contributes to my overall mood and tranquility for the week and not getting that didn’t start my day off on the best note. 

I was at a solid level with my patience today as I really didn’t have much to do in any of my classes. It was much easier to stay relaxed and in the moment when I didn’t have any work that was super important to focus on. 

Moderation was successful today. I went to school, then a workout, straight off to tennis, and then back home. I had a brief window of down time where I talked to my friend on facetime until I had to eat a quick dinner and go to ACT tutoring. It was a very busy day, but I feel like I got a good mix of activities. 

Order was good for me as my room got cleaned. I am really hoping and working to keep it that way for a while by putting things away as they pile up and not after they have actually made a mountain on top of my other twin bed. 

Joy was a bit of a struggle today but I was able to find it in my physics test when I didn’t think I was doing well (not the joyful part), but when I got back my grade, I was pleasantly surprised by it and it made me happy and proud of the work I had put into it. 

One more day until Thanksgiving break and I am really needing it. While this week was pretty good overall, I am really glad it is almost over and that I will be able to relax for a while. Have a good night everyone!

Luke Kounkel – Nov 17

Today was a difficult day to work on my virtues. I had very little homework for the day and so any ideas of being productive were scattered to the wind. Since there was no real pressure to actually get anything done, instead I just relaxed, had some me time, and then finished the night by calling with some friends. Today was overall a good day for me, but not a great one for the virtues. Let’s just pretend that I was forcing myself to practice productivity tomorrow by putting off work. Framed like that, today seems like more of a win.

Luke Kounkel – Nov 16

Today was a pretty good day for the virtues. I have my internship with Cerner on odd days, so I get to go home early and video conference in with my manager. Today we were setting up some groundwork for a big project to cap off the semester, and I got to go through a bunch of real-world procedures for problem solving at Cerner. Out of the 3 high schoolers on our team I am currently the farthest along with everything, so I’d say that my productivity virtue was utilized well. So far this week I’ve had very little homework, so I’ve had plenty of time to fulfill my tranquility virtue, and even though my allergies don’t feel great, I’m managing.

Day 9 – 11/17/21

Today I woke up feeling pretty confident about my physics test. I knew that I had studied for ample time and felt that I was ready for whatever was put on the test. After taking the test, I still felt this confidence as I felt that I did pretty good on it. After this test I did not feel the same sort of resolution that I felt the day before when I was studying for the test. I didn’t have much homework, so I did not really feel motivated to do much after school. My industry was also bad, because the homework that I did do I did not do very efficiently. After my test I knew that I probably would not have much drive to complete my homework, so I decided to play tennis to try and do something productive. This gave me good order in my life as I set aside time for the things that are important to me. I did not have very good moderation especially since I did not do much homework and I spent a lot of time on my phone. Despite the issues I had on my productivity related virtues, I felt that my justice was good today as I treated my friends fairly. Overall, I had an unproductive day, but it was a happy and relaxing day.

Connor Lawson – Day 10 Update

For this day, I did well with my tranquility, which I haven’t had much trouble with throughout this blog. This is also similarly true with my honesty virtue, which I did well on today. Today, I was okay with my self control, I had a huge amount of chips which I snacked on, but I had no candy or sweets, which I consider worse than chips in terms of how healthy they are. I was sincere today as well, which it wasn’t very hard to be, as I wasn’t really tested in this field of virtue today. I didn’t need to study for any tests today, which I am thankful for, as I thought there was going to be a surge of tests before the break, but there weren’t too many, in fact I only had one test.

Connor Lawson – Day 9 Update

For this day, I did much better than yesterday with my self control, which was my main goal for this day. I didn’t eat any junk food or candy or sweets at all. I did study for a little bit right before my AP physics exam, which I think I did okay on. I don’t think I did fantastic, but the refresher before the test helped a lot. For honesty, I technically did lie today. I lost my shoes at soccer practice and I didn’t tell my parents I’ll get them back tomorrow, but I didn’t tell them, and hopefully they don’t find out. I was also good with my tranquility and sincerity virtues.

Day #10: November 18, 2021

I started my day out with a workout class before school which was really nice and helped me clear my mind a little bit. Even with taking away my time to sleep in, it made me feel productive. I think that honestly helped with all of my virtues the rest of the day because I was more patient with myself, felt more organized and cleansed, and also my workout is being kind to my body on its own. With balance, after school, I sat in my sister’s bed while I did math homework and we got to talk and catch up a little bit with our week. Overall, I felt successful with all my virtues and was in a good mood all day. 

Connor Lawson – Day 8 Update

For this day, I studied for an AP physics test that is happening tomorrow. I studied for about an hour, but still wasn’t extremely confident and sure about everything. I should have studied more, but I hope the test goes well. For my self control, I did horrible, I ate 3 donuts. This is obviously not what I should have done, but they tasted so good. I was honest and tranquil today. As well as being sincere. So, overall, today was bad. I should have been able to follow my virtues closer today, but knowing I was breaking them I still did it.

Connor Lawson – Day 7 Update

For this day, I was okay with my self-control virtue, I snacked on some chips, but that was it. I was able to control myself from eating anything worse. I did well with tranquility and honesty as I did not lie or get upset at all during the day. I was sincere today, as I kept all of my promises, even if they were minuscule promises, and I didn’t make many promises to keep to begin with. I didn’t study for anything as there was no need, I do not have any tests coming up very soon. So, overall, it was a decent day.

Connor Burrows – Nov 18

Order 4/5 – I did a pretty good job of organizing my day to get as much work done as possible while in school, which felt good (not as much in the moment, but more so now). I didn’t waste much time today, and that always leads to a better evening.

Resolution 5/5 – I finished the figure!!! I spent a good hour and a half today doing the finishing touches, and I think it turned out super well. I plan on painting another figure over break, and I’ll try to keep up with resolution as I go forward with that.

Confidence 1/5 – I’m sad to end my journey towards Confidence like this, but my day was so busy that I just forgot to work on this one today. Overall, I definitely improved with this virtue, but today was not a good day for it.

Health 5/5 – I walked my dogs today, which is always a good workout. Despite being pretty old, they walk a lot faster than you would expect. I forgot to take any pictures on the walk, but I do have a picture of my dogs

Left: Lexi

Right: Charlie

Responsibility 5/5 – I was very responsible with my time management today, so I ended up getting all of my work done for the night before getting home from school. I normally spend free time in my classes on my phone, but I spent most of my time today doing homework, and it feels great now.

All in all, I’ve made a lot of progress with my virtues, though I have had more success with some than others. I really enjoyed this project, and I plan to try to keep going with at least some of the virtues that I’ve been working towards.

I hope everyone has a wonderful break! 🙂

Day 9 Nov 17

moderation- B

frugality- D

accountability- C

self-discipline- C

cleanliness- B

Today was not my best day for the challenge. I’ve started to lose motivation and I don’t know why. I went out to lunch for the second time during the challenge and one of my goals was to stop spending money. This was also the second day in a row where I didn’t make it to the gym. One positive thing was I got all of my school work done. I need to get back on track for the next two days to actually gain something out of this challenge. Tomorrow I am going to make it a priority to make it to the gym and to spend time with my family. 

Day 10

Getting close to the end. Today started off amazing! Sleeping in helps my day so much, I am so thankful for our late starts! I made my lunch, fed my bunny, talked with my mom for a bit, then I was off to school. I started my day out with math. Accepting I had done bad on my first try at the mastery quiz for math, I had a retake today and I am pretty confident I did well, which is always rewarding. It helped me move on from the grade, knowing I will work on passing the mastery. My next hour I did a dissection, so gross, but so fascinating! I also caught up on my portfolio, leaving no stress for the class. I finished my day off with child development, I was able to color with soothed my day helping with tranquility and I did homework so I don’t procrastinate. I came home and had a pear for my snack, and a bit of cookie dough because my mom had just made it and I couldn’t resist myself! Today has been such a fabulous day, but tonight I am studying for my chem exam. I have been stressing about this exam all week. Last exam I had a studied partner and I did well on the test, so I am doing it again. Tonight I am staying up with my friend to teach other and go through the notes so we do well on the test tomorrow. Overall I would give myself a B, only because of the stress I have on myself due to chem. I hope everyone had a great day today, and I hope tomorrow is even better! Friday!!!

Day 9

Wednesday was a pretty good day. I woke up around 6:30 ready to get my day started. Chemistry went well which always makes my day easier, and the rest of the day flew by. I had weights today, and I focused on form and reps, working on cleanliness and my health. I hung out with my friends after, this really helped me stay tranquil. Hanging out with my friends also allowed me to work on liberality. I was having fun and worrying about homework later, when I got home. Eating spaghetti, maybe not the healthiest, but I ate it in moderation, which I have found is the best way to handle cravings and unhealthy food. Overall I would give myself an A. I got all my work done, it was stress free, and I had fun. Pretty good day to me! I hope the rest of you had a fantastic day. 🙂

Day 8

Tuesday, I was very stressed. I practiced, and practiced chemistry, preparing myself for the quiz. I had friends over and I was trying to help them as well. Teaching them the periodic trends, allowed me to practice tranquility. Overall, tranquility was the main virtue I worked on, and I was a little disappointed in myself for only working on the one. But I thought I did a great job explaining the concept, and staying calm while doing it. I hope everyones virtues are going well!

Day 10- November 18

Following back up with yesterday and my new study strategy, I wasn’t the biggest fan. I was studying for what felt like hours on end last night, and stopped my new study strategy after the first hour, I just felt like I was better off studying how I normally do. On the other hand, today, I wanted to work on academic acceptance and passion. I was really trying to be optimistic and confident about my chem test this morning, but I just don’t think it went well. I was really trying to accept the fact that I didn’t do my best, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about how badly I thought I did. So, in conclusion, I give myself a solid 0/5 for academic acceptance. Even though today was rough practicing academic acceptance, I definitely feel as though I’ve improved over the course of the past couple of weeks. As for passion, I did really well with this virtue! I brought my camera to school today and took some photos for my print story for Harbinger and used the green room in the library which was fun. For today, I give myself a 5/5 for passion. I hope everyone has a great rest of their week :)))

Day 10 on November 18

Today was a great wrap up as the conclusion of these virtue blogs nears. I was industrious during the school day and got finished with all of the work I set as a goal for myself to do. This left me feeling very accomplished and relaxed so that I don’t have to stress about too much schoolwork over break. I also worked on moderation by balancing all of this work out with some time to relax on my phone after school and at a workout class. Also, I had a nice conversation with my brother to count for family time. All of these things set me up for a good day and made me realize how much more fun life is when I set and accomplish goals.

Day 8 – 11/16/21

Today I woke up pretty concerned for my physics test the next day. Although it was the next day, this unit was by far the hardest one yet, so I really wanted to be prepared for it. This concern gave me strong resolution to get all of my other homework done quickly to leave plenty of time to study for my physics test. I was pretty industrious also in my work, as I worked very efficiently on all of my work. On order I could have done a little bit better, by giving a little bit more time for my friends, but I was so hyper focused on my test that this was what I did for most of the day. I felt that my moderation was okay, because although I was good about not using my phone too much, I also did not do much else besides study for my test and work on homework. My justice was okay because I did not get any good opportunities to use it. Overall, although I was pretty hyper focused on studying it was a pretty solid day for my virtues.

day 8

This was a good day overall I would say in the whole grandiose scheme of things. It was a very moving day that and i felt like i was kinda just going through the motions which always feel nice. I wanted in my head too much and stuck to what I needed to do. I focused on order today and keeping everything organized.

Cleanliness: Not only was i able to keep up with my personal hygiene and such and picking up after life and that was very nice, i also made a good dent in all the stuff that i have shoved under my bed which was very nice and i appreciated it. I give myself an A

order: i kept to the schedule that i set for the day which was what i wanted. I had work and left work on time instead of staying which was very nice and just kept my day moving and organized which was very comforting. Everything had its place and I very much enjoyed that. It felt good. I give myself a A i did really well with this one 

resolution: this was a very good day for my resolution because i casually kept to everything that i needed to keep to did everything that i needed to do with my day and did everything that i said i was going to do with my day which was very comforting. I give myself a B+

tranquility: I found peace in talking to a coworker today about the craziness that is life. It was surprisingly grounding and I enjoyed having that conversation. I enjoy having those types of conversations with people because it is fascinating that each person has a different perspective on life and how they feel about it which I think is very cool and interesting. I also allowed myself time when i got home to just sit with my thoughts for a bit and sit in quiet and think. I give myself a b+

My own personal boundaries: today I was asked to stay an extra hour at work and I said no because I had things to do and felt as though I wouldn’t really have time to get everything done. I am quite a pushover when it comes to working overtime at work so whenever I turn it down I feel a sense of pride that I didn’t have right away and that makes me feel very happy internally. I give myself a A

Day 9

Today I went and bought a new planner to try and help me stay more organized. I also feel like it motivates me more when I have things written down. I hope I actually use my planner and remember to cross things off. After I did that I went to babysit and tried to do homework while they were busy but it was really distracting. I think if I used my class time better, I would have less homework in the evening and would not have to do it while I am babysitting. I feel like it is getting harder to practice the five virtues. 

Cleanliness-A

Order-A

Productivity-A

Patience-A

Acceptance- B

Entry 10

It’s the last day of the blog! It has been a long ride of giving effort into this and Im proud of myself. It didn’t go as I planned but I feel like as an individual I really improved. Going into this I was loud and never quiet. Now i have boundaries and am able to control myself. I have a new sense of order and overall I feel like an overall more complete person. I woke up this morning super happy for the day and hopefully, I carry these virtues over into life after the ten days of entries.

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Day 7- November 16th

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. 

Entry 9

It took a while, but I’m finally not sick! I woke up and was so ready to go to school and see my friends. I normally hate school but i hadn’t been in so long. When I got there i really wanted to interact with everyone and talk. I quickly remember my virtue silence. It was super hard for me but I held my self from interacting and focused on the class. This is real improvement from nine days ago as I definitely would’ve gotten in trouble and been loud. These virtues have paid off so much and Im thankful I’ve done them.

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Entry 8

Im feeling better! I didn’t go to school today as I still have a little fever but Im getting better. I am so thankful as I feel like i’ve been sick forever. My dog was being her normal self and barking a ton. She does it mostly when guests come over but today, she was just barking to bark. It was really annoying but the old Miles would’ve just accepted it and waited for her to stop. Instead, I realized she needs order if she’s ever gonna stop. So I grabbed her and told her to stop. She immediately stopped. I was happy as order is my virtue and realized Im improving with these virtues as we go on through this blog.

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Entry 7

Unfortunately I woke up and I’m still sick. I was super disappointed as I had things planned today but I felt better than yesterday. I really thought about my virtues and really wanted to try and engage a little bit. When my mom brought me food I had a long conversation with her and I think she really appreciated it. The rest of the day I played Xbox and instead of yelling and screaming at the game like I normally do, I was tranquil and didn’t let it get in my head. Hopefully tomorrow Im a lot better and able to engage in normal life.

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Day 7

Today had a rough start but it turned around. I woke up with a killer killer headache and for the life of me couldn’t conceptualize time passing. I was pretty late to school because of it but I didn’t want to miss today and eventually the headache subsided so i’m very happy I pushed through. After my headache left it was a good productive day.

Cleanliness: I set out on a mission to go through everything in our bathroom which was a success and to clean all of the doors in our house because those don’t get cleaned very often and doors are icky. I was successful in this and honestly was very happy and proud of the outcome. Along with that I succeeded in my goals in personal hygiene and keeping the space around me clean so I would consider today very successful. I give myself a A.

order: im keeping my order, eating my food, making plans and sticking to them. I’m figuring out where things have places in my life which is nice and im overall doing pretty ok sticking to a schedule throughout the day. Once I got past a very painful morning I was golden and glowing. I give myself a B.

resolution: i did break my goal of being on time to school and was pretty late. We have officially reached a point in the school year where more kids are getting their licences and the east doesn’t have enough parking for everyone and I couldn’t find space to park which was heartbreaking and sad but this is alright. I now know that I will have to be at school earlier if I want a place to park. Other than that I did a pretty good job of doing what i need to do with my day and am pretty happy. I give myself a B-.

tranquility: I was able to keep moving and keep out of my head. Not having a headache after having a headache is very calming and I really enjoy it. I was able to get out of my head and work on the day which was nice. I definitely could have kept better piece with myself but overall I think I did ok. i give myself a B.

Setting boundaries: I didn’t come across many moments where I was forced to set boundaries or have any hard conversations and was overall allowed to be a person and was able to allow myself to be a person but that wasn’t a particular struggle of the day. id give myself a A-.

Entry 6

I woke up today and had a super high fever. It was 101.7 and I felt really awful. I went straight to the couch and started watching a show. My mom had to leave the house for a while and I really needed medicine. Instead of showing dedication and getting up I just stayed on the couch and got even worse. Dedication is one of my virtues and I did a really bad job. The rest of the day I sat in silence and watched Stranger things. Silence is one of my virtues and I did an amazing job at that. Hopefully tomorrow I feel a lot better and am able to really focus on virtues.

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day 6

today was a hard day but i stuck the my goals pretty well. I couldn’t get out of my head and I made myself be a little vulnerable in order to get that peace. Something that I have attempted to understand is that just because you can explain what you should be feeling and or thinking doesn’t mean that you are actually allowing yourself to feel emotions and stuff. I didn’t get much sleep saturday night do to racing thoughts so i was kinda tired but overall i’m pound. How the day went is how i want hard days to go.

Tranquility: I woke up before work this morning and allowed myself space and time to meditate and be calm and that really helped me through the day when my mind wouldn’t be quiet. I’ve also began watching ted ed videos to calm myself and carrying a round yarn to knit when I get overwhelmed so I can focus my energy away from over analysing which is nice. I give myself a B-

Cleanliness: i made my own personal cleanliness goals for the day, keeping personal hygiene and keeping my space clean and all. I did succeed in going through my book and cleaning the shelf in my room which was nice. I give myself a B+

order: I came home and meal prepped for the week which will allow me to stick to eating what I should and will keep me from needing to worry about food for the rest of the week. The fact that I, for the rest of my life, will need to plan and make a meal roughly 3 times a day for the rest of my life making sure I’m getting proper levels of fat, protein and vitamins and minerals and all of the important things and that scares me so much. It’s a very overwhelming thought. Keeping order and making meals in advance has done alot to calm that anxiety. I give myself a A-

resolution: i made it through the day and did what i need to do. I did the work I needed to do, I felt like the day just kinda flew by though. I give myslef a B+

My own personal boundaries: I was kinda quiet today and wasn’t as spunky as I normally am, and that’s ok. Overall I think I kept personal boundaries and did what I needed to do. I also had a hard conversation with one of my coworkers that i wasn’t looking forward to setting my own boundaries and such so i’m happy I give myself a B+

Nov 17 Blog #8

Today I worked with sincerity and had many examples of me treating people with sincerity and one example I could have worked on sincerity and I didn’t. I’ll start with the bad; while at practice my teammate missed an open net that would have ended training and we would have won, but he missed. I should have been sincere and helped him move on to the next play, but instead yelled at him and just completely ignored his feelings. A good example was when I was working and saw a women outside struggling with her groceries. She looked like she was coming to get ice cream and I recognized that. I ran to the door and opened for her. She had two little kids and had her hands full. I made sure I was extra nice while serving her. It paid off because she gave me a generous tip.

Blog #7 Nov 16

For the first time since starting this blog I could not think of an example for Tuesday, but I remembered one thing. My last virtue is order, and order is something I wanted to work on later in the week when I got busier, but I had the perfect example of order on Tuesday. I had to make time in the afternoon to workout, do homework, and be social. In fourth hour I was thinking how I was going to make time. After thinking for a bit I figured out a schedule. I was gong to workout right after school for an hour and a half, go home and do homework, and then get dinner with someone I hadn’t seen in a long time. Although I didn’t directly work on a virtue I think working on order was extremely important for me.

Blog #6 Nov 15

Waking up on Mondays are always extremely tough. On Monday November 15, I worked on my faith. Faith has always been something that I’ve worked on in my life. Since eighth grade I have been extremely close to God and try to implement him into my daily life. While at our soccer banquet I accepted an award and although I didn’t get to do a speech I knew the first person I was going to thank were the people who helped me through this year and get me to play high school soccer. After thanking them (in my head) I said a small prayer to myself thanking god for what he had done for me in the last year. I am so much happier this year and I tend to thank the people who surround me each day, but forget to thank God, who has been with me forever.

Weekend of Nov 13/14

Last weekend I focused on sincerity, I do believe I had many examples of sincerity. The first one that comes to mind is on Saturday morning I went out of my way to go see my friend play in his soccer game. It was 30 minutes away, but he has been one of my best friends forever. After that we went to lunch at Canes, and I offered to pay for his meal. He declined but ended up paying for it anyway. After lunch I went to play in a basketball tournament, and they missed a call on a teammate of mine. Now usually I would argue, but I showed silence and ignored the ridiculous referee. I know that is an example of silence rather than sincerity; I was extremely proud of my decision to keep my anger inside and to not lash out at the underpaid ref. On Sunday I showed my sincerity by offering to help my mom with the gift bags for the soccer banquet on Monday. Overall I think I had a successful weekend virtue wise.

November 18, 2021

Day 10

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

Benjamin Franklin

Today is the last day of blogging! I am honestly pretty happy with my progress so far. It has been difficult, but I feel like I have really gained some insight about the things in my life that are going well, and the possible new habits I should introduce into my everyday schedule.

Once again, I am changing the format of my blog to better suit my day and the virtues that I practiced. I have had such a hectic week that it has felt difficult to keep up with my blog. Today, I really just want to focus on moderation. I have two big tests coming up tomorrow and one practice tonight for basketball. I am planning on getting most of my homework out of the way during the day today, so I can have more time to focus on studying later. I hope that by doing this, I won’t be up as late studying and I can get a better night’s sleep before my tests tomorrow.

Hope everyone has a great day!

Day 6 – Nov 14th

            I started my day by sleeping in for the first time in a few weeks, which was really nice. I had a delicious breakfast and hung out with my mom for a little. The beginning of my day was very peaceful and relaxing, making Tranquility a success. Productivity in regard to downtime went well as I wasn’t on my phone very much today and when I took breaks between homework, I spent them reading. I didn’t get much of a chance to work on Acceptance or Kindness, but I did clean my room and put clothes away. Starting the week off being organized and with a clean room always makes the next week go smoother. Today, three out of my five virtues went well and it was a pretty good day.