A634.6.3.RB_LeeDarrell - What are Virtues?

With the exception of Jesus, nobody has ever lived a perfect life. No matter how hard we may try, achieving perfection is absolutely impossible. However, we don’t have to achieve perfect to live virtuous and morally fulfilling lives. We can take small steps to better ourselves every day.

Benjamin Franklin has always been a fascinating historical figure to me. I have always considered him to be the voice of reason and wisdom to the founding fathers of our nation. It is common knowledge that he had his vices, though. That may be why I have always admired him. It makes him more human so I can relate to him. I have more in common with him than I do Mother Teresa or Ghand. The same is true with characters from the Bible. God used the most vile people – adulterers, murderers, prostitutes, thieves, and scoundrels – and used them as the most influential and noble leaders because we can relate to them.

Benjamin Franklin created a list of 13 virtues by which he strived to live (you can see a list with the explanation for each here: http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/pop_virtues_list.html). They are:

1.   temperance

2.   silence

3.   order

4.   resolution

5.   frugality

6.   industry

7.   sincerity

8.   justice

9.   moderation

10. cleanliness

11. tranquility

12. chastity

13. humility

As I looked over this list, I reflected on each of them and thought about how they really affect my life. I would love to tell you that I have at least mastered a few of these but I would by lying to you if I said that. I know that I am better at some of these than others but I need to work on each of them. I took a little quiz to see my strengths/weaknesses (you can see how you do here: http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/exp_virtue.html). The problem when we do these little personality quizzes is that we often answer the questions the way that we want to see ourselves. Isn’t that silly? I mean I know the truth about myself and I know that I am the only one that will see the results yet it is still difficult for me to answer truthfully. I had to take it three times before I really got the purest results. The results were somewhat surprising because an area that I thought was a strength – frugality - is a weakness!

Growing up, we were poor. My sister and I thought that it was really neat that we often got to eat things like pancakes for dinner but what we didn’t know is that was all we had in the house and there was no money to buy anything else. We learned how to make our own toys and costumes. We had nothing. My mother taught us how to stretch every dollar and how to budget at a fairly young age. I have always been careful with my money. I started a Roth IRA right after I turned 18. I have no debt (other than a mortgage) and a healthy savings account. However, frugality doesn’t only apply to how we manage our money. I am far less thrifty in other ways. For example, I waste a lot of resources by taking long showers, running the air conditioner all day, not replacing all of the light bulbs with LEDs, driving when I could take the train, etc. Frugality with all of our resources is a sign of moral achievement (Nemeth, 2004). This is a virtue that I really want to incorporate into everything that I do and not just with my money.

Another virtue that I need to apply is resolution. This was another one that caught me off guard. When I set my mind to do something, I get it done. I have never been a quitter. One of my positive resume points is that I always see every challenge through to completion and use failure as a growth opportunity. However, my problem is not that I don’t complete that which I am resolved to do but rather than I often don’t resolve to do something at all. In fact, that is why I am working on this degree now instead of seven years ago. I didn’t resolve to do it until early last year. When we make our resolutions, we need to be open minded. We can’t just resolve to do what we want to do but sometimes we need to resolve to do what others are advising us to do (Fernández-Zapico, 2009). Therefore, I resolve to seek out and apply at least one piece of advice every day, whether from a friend, colleague, mentor, or article.

I don’t want this to be completely about the virtues that I have found to be lacking. Let me end on a positive note! One virtue that I believe I apply in every situation and is now second nature to me is tranquility. Do I get frustrated at times? Well, sure I do but I am like a duck and troubles around me are like drops of water that just bead up and fall off. I wish that I could tell you the secret to being like that. I haven’t always been this way so there must have been a point that I started to shift my perspective but I can’t pinpoint when that way. What I can tell you, though, is that bad things are going to happen to good people. It is unavoidable. Getting upset about it won’t make the situation better. Since it is impossible to avoid, I choose to not get anything break me. I encourage you to make the same choice.

Fernández-Zapico, M. E. (2009). Keep at It! Accept the Challenges of Your Critics. Pancreatology, 9(5), 551-553. doi:10.1159/000211525

Nemeth, R. Z. (2004, Nov 21). Magazine examines virtues and values. Telegram & Gazette