Member-only story
Mind the Gap (between stimulus and response)
Be your best self by using one of Benjamin Franklin’s original virtues, moderation.
As a young man in his twenties, Benjamin Franklin created a template of virtues that he used to measure his actions each day. He employed this same checklist for the rest of his life. This story is about the virtue of Moderation.
Moderation: Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.
When Benjamin Franklin practiced the virtue of Moderation, it had nothing to do with moderating his drinking or other vices. That type of moderation is covered under a different virtue, Temperance. No, Franklin had something else in mind. It had more to do with regulating his emotions than his food and drink.
I often wonder if Benjamin Franklin studied the Stoics, because this particular virtue has a very Stoic ring to it. The Stoics believe that we have no control over things external to ourselves. The only thing within our control is our response to external things.
A good example of this is participating in a race. You have no control over the other participants and their abilities. The only thing you can control is your own training and preparedness. You…
