The Three Virtues

     The three virtues I attempted to master this week were temperance, industry, and tranquility.

Temperance: The virtue of temperance consists of the idea of self-discipline, pertaining to food and drinks. I chose this virtue because I have already been familiar with it for the past month, and it would not be difficult to continue temperance. Naturally, mastering temperance was a success, because even though the meals I ate throughout the three days were mouth-watering, I was able to stop myself the minute my stomach indicated I was full. However, the base of this strength for the past three days came from the fact that I did not go trick-or-treating, which meant there was no Halloween candy for me to indulge in, and give up my temperance for, in sight. The drinking aspect was much easier because the only drink I consume is water, and sometimes tea.

Industry: The virtue of industry means that in order to be efficient and productive, it is necessary to cut out all things useless, such as television, computers, and cell phones. I chose industry because I have the tendency to choose watching television, texting, and surfing the Internet, rather than completing certain tasks that are important. During the course of these three days, I completely failed. Instead of doing my homework when I came home on Thursday night, I watched Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo, and completed the homework Friday morning in the car. On Saturday mornings, I take a college class at a community college. However, this class bores me to death, and I always end up texting Mariam and talking about a variety of topics, rather than taking notes and paying attention to the professor. Continuing the tradition, Mariam and I texted throughout the three hour class, and I did not take any notes. Lastly, returning home from my college class, I had set my mind to completing the heap of chemistry homework assigned to us over the weekend. However, P.S. I Love You was premiering on ABC Family, and I could not pass up the opportunity to watch one of my favorite romantic movies. During these past three days, I came to the conclusion that I tend to watch an excessive amount of television, and mastering the virtue of industry will probably be my main focus once I begin attending college.

Tranquility: The virtue of tranquility is the idea of being peaceful, especially when certain events occur that causes one to become angry. The reason I chose to attempt mastering tranquility is because I came up with the conclusion that I have back problems because of the amount of stress I am dealing with, along with the fact that I let every problem affect me. During these three days, I somewhat succeeded with becoming tranquil. There were many moments when I wanted to scream, but instead I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and kept my mouth shut. The only moment that altered my tranquility was Saturday afternoon, when I checked my current grades online. For one of my classes, it said I had a missing assignment, which made my grade drop seventeen percent. However, I was missing that assignment because I had gone to the hospital that day, which made it an excused absence. I raged and became angry at this event, and still currently am. Although tranquility is an important aspect towards health, there are some matters where being calm is impossible.