Ben Franklin… what an interesting character in our country’s
history - an inventor, a playboy, an incredibly important member of the
founding of this country – and to top it all off apparently he tried to live a
very ethical life. His 13 virtues that
he attempted to live by are still quite relevant to life 223 years after his
death. Virtues like temperance, order,
resolution, silence, frugality, industry, sincerity, justice, moderation,
cleanliness, tranquility, chastity, and humility are all fantastic ideals for
people to utilize in their everyday life (“Ben’s 13 Virtues,”). While I was closely aligned with his virtues,
there are some areas that I could improve on to bring myself into closer similarity
with how he lived.
For example, tranquility.
This is actually something I have been trying to work on for the past
several months now. Before I went to
Iraq, I let petty things get underneath my skin. While I wouldn’t act upon that irritation,
people often could sense my change in attitude and I developed a reputation for
being a hot head. When I came back from
Iraq, I was much more clam – after all, being in a combat zone for 7 months
gives you a certain perspective on life about what is and is not important. With that being said, I have slipped back
into my old habits and let stupid things get to me. Several months ago, I (admittedly) saw a quote
from Elizabeth Kenny on Facebook that really got my mind going and that
essentially resulted in an epiphany – “he who angers you conquers you.” Since then, when I start to get heated about
something trivial, I quickly remind myself that it is not worth it and whoever
is getting under my skin will not own me.
In only several months, both my wife and I have seen improvements in my
demeanor and is something that I plan to continue to work on.
Frugality is another one that both my wife and I have been
trying to work on of recent. We in no
way hurt financially, however taking a step back and looking at where we are in
life, we realized that we spend way too much money on material things and not
near enough on things that matter like living life to the fullest. Essentially, it occurred to us that we have
all that we need and everything else is pure excess. Since coming to that conclusion, we have drastically
dropped our spending on materials and instead spent some on an experience – we just
got back from a cruise (our first vacation alone in 6 years). We didn’t buy anything except a few petty
trinkets to remember the cruise by despite all of the “great deals” underway purely
because we didn’t need them (to say it is a remarkable feat that my wife was
able to abstain from purchasing any jewelry is an understatement)!
I am going to conclude with something that I have lived with
for many years. I am an ardent supporter
of having humility. I was taught pretty
early on that being humble in life is a great trait to have and have ensured
that I stayed so for years now. This is
almost to a fault now since I can’t brag about myself when that ability to do
so is almost a requirement for the Navy evaluation system, however I refuse to
be anything but humble. I am just a man
that tries to do his best which is all that I want out of anyone else. That attitude has helped to win the confidence
of both upper officers and the guys below me, and I have no intention of
changing that anytime soon.
Ben's 13 virtues.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/pop_virtues_list.html
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