Review Ben's 13 Virtues and take the Virtue Quiz to find out how you measure up against Franklin's virtues.
Select three of Franklin's virtues and reflect upon them in your blog. Ask yourself, how can I include them in my daily life?
I enjoyed doing this test because I read Ben's 13 Virtuesm(1726) more than a year ago and decided that I was going to focus on them for this past year. One of the virtues I focus the most on was silence. I realize that communication is a strength of mind, but it can also be a weakness. Sometimes I share too much. I also trust too much, and these two attributes combine to leave me very soft in the way of people who do not want the best for me. One of the things I dislike about the MSLD program is that I felt that some of the coursework tried to maintain that a new era of the workplace was coming. It was as if the 21st century was made to be the place of work environments where people word collaborative, caring, and sought to benefit and serve the common good as a goal.
Through my coursework I have been taught how to lead this utopian workplace while learning the history of the archetype that was steadily drowning behind me with all of its follies. I was supposed to look to the past to avoid mistakes in the future, to be collaborative instead of overpowering, and to trust in my team rather than be suspicious of them and their actions. While I do believe I have become more knowledgeable about what a leader is and is not, it has only become clear to me the intentions behind being one of those poor leaders, and has shown how many people in leadership positions still believe there is a greater benefit to putting co-workers at odds then bringing them together. What does one do with such knowledge when they have no power to change it? Observe in silence. This is what I have done for months - listened intently without reacting. I believe I have seen the success of such actions but I must learn to balance it with an air of jovial spirit, because people do not like when you seem disturbed by them. I disagree with Franklin in his virtue of moderation (perhaps I am misconstruing his definition). Franklin notes, "Avoid extremes. Forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve." I believe that sometimes resolve is within the extremes and being decisive, not just going with the flow. Though I believe agree-ability is a virtue, there is suspicion in moderation. It can be seen as apathy or worse, laziness. I attempt to balance this with limiting my speaking to when my opinion is requested.
The virtues that the test that I needed to work on her order and tranquility. While I am organized and all my things do have their place (I hate to look for physical things), I often overlap in activities and thoughts. I struggle to do one thing at a time, and my mind is always racing. Because of my over-thinking and continuous streams of thought, I am always stressed, anxious end attempting to find a way to avoid dysfunction. I just want peace, I find myself saying a lot.Then my problem-avoiding becomes a problem! The Dalai Lama discusses in Dalai Lama Renaissance, that inner peace is an act for the self, regardless of one's religion (Darvich, 2009). He says that when we practice compassion, we become happier people.If we look intrinsically for love and support, we will have less problems.
This is why I understand my need for tranquility. I can become very distressed about issues that others would see as minimal. This is because I do not believe anything that occurs happens in vacuum. I see every event as a domino impacting another event, and eventually culminating to a life-changing circumstance. When I see the dominoes falling in the wrong direction, I rush to change them, as if shifting dynamics will make for a more favorable outcome (Étienne, 2012). At times I hurt myself in the process. However, I am careful not to hurt others. I care about what others think of me - perhaps too much. I could stand to be more frugal with my time and to give less value to the perceptions or opinions of others. Within the workplace there are a lot of people who have titles without harnessing sincerity or justice; they do not care about hurting others or speaking productively, and they will hide beneficial information for the sake of making others feel unimportant or unable to make sound decisions. As this is a commonality, I must be tranquil in changing what I can, not bearing the weight of stress when I cannot, and changing where I am if I am perpetually unhappy.
References
Darvich, K. (2009). Dalai Lama Renaissance Documentary Film - Narrated by Harrison Ford (DVD Movie Dali Tibet China Llama). From http://dalailamafilm.com
Étienne, G. H. Y. S. (2012). The Butterfly Effect. CNRS-UMPA ENS, Lyon.
Franklin, B. (1726). Ben's 13 Virtues. PBS. From http://www.pbs.org/benfranklin/pop_virtues_list.html
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