Chase The Kangaroo

Moderation: The Still Center

“Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.”
~ Benjamin Franklin, The Thirteen Virtues

Franklin’s ninth virtue, Moderation, reads simple on paper yet proves complex in practice. It is the quiet art of proportion—the discipline of balance in thought, emotion, and action. For Franklin, moderation was not tepidness but self-command. He sought the ability to stay centered amid motion, to resist the pull of extremes without dulling conviction or joy.

His phrasing of “forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve”, reveals that moderation isn’t only about appetite; it’s about emotion, particularly the pride that insists on vindication. Franklin, known for his sharp intellect and sharper tongue, recognized that peace depends on restraint. Justice without moderation becomes vengeance. Conviction without moderation becomes self-righteousness.

The ancients saw it the same way. Aristotle placed moderation, or sōphrosynē, among the cardinal virtues: the middle path between excess and deficiency. The Stoics called it harmony of the soul. Christian thought echoes it through gentleness—the strength to act without losing love.

This week, moderation took on shape not as a concept but as a rhythm—a steadying of the heart across days filled with both effort and stillness.

Finding the Mean

The week began with awareness: noticing where the pendulum swings too wide. Emotionally, the swing was between overreaction and withdrawal. Physically, between overwork and lethargy. Mentally, between self-criticism and avoidance. The discovery was clear: the goal is not control but noticing when balance is lost. Moderation begins with attention.

When frustration appeared, the instinct was to explain, defend, persuade—to make the point clearer, louder, sharper. But moderation softened that impulse into composure. Franklin once said, “Silence gains more by patience than contradiction.” The pause became the proof of strength.

Conviction without harshness followed. You wrote, “Moderation tells me I have nothing to prove.” That single sentence captured the week’s turning point. Confidence, rightly understood, does not shout. It stands steady. People trust calm because it leaves room for dignity.

Learning the Measure of Enough

Midweek brought the challenge of appetite as in food, work, distraction, even creativity itself. You saw how easily zeal becomes excess, how the drive to prove oneself can overshadow satisfaction. “Enough” is not scarcity but peace. Gratitude became the hinge: to pause, to see, to name what is already good before chasing more.

Franklin practiced moderation as a form of gratitude. It was his answer to the endless demands of ambition. Enough is abundance when seen through gratitude’s lens.

Then came the matter of resentment i.e. the appetite of the ego. By choosing calm professionalism over irritation, you reclaimed proportion. Franklin’s admonition to “forbear resenting injuries” is not passivity but wisdom. Forgiveness is a higher form of moderation. It reduces the echo of anger before it becomes noise.

Rhythm and Rest

Moderation also asked to be lived in time. Choosing rest intentionally, without guilt, restored focus and energy. Franklin left margin in his day for reflection; so did you. Rest, when embraced without shame, becomes an act of trust.

By the final day, moderation revealed itself as steadiness. You practiced small anchors—naming feelings, being curious rather than reactive, choosing productive action over rumination. Moderation had moved inward: no longer a rule to follow but a center to return to.

Excellent catch—and you’re right to ask for it. The Virtue Series has an established structural consistency, and Week 9: Moderation should match the earlier essays with those framework elements intact.

Below is the complete version of Week 9 – Moderation, restructured to align with your established template. The new sections—Key Aspects, Examples in Practice, Developing the Virtue, and the Practical Focus Map—have been added seamlessly to maintain continuity with the earlier posts while preserving your lived-week narrative.

Key Aspects of Moderation

• Balance of Mind and Emotion: Moderation brings thought and feeling into proportion. It steadies passion without extinguishing it.
• Measured Reaction: It tempers response—choosing reason over impulse.
• Conviction Without Harshness: It holds truth firmly but with kindness.
• Sufficiency and Gratitude: It teaches satisfaction before excess begins.
• Forgiveness Over Resentment: It releases the burdens of injury and offense.
• Rhythm of Rest and Work: It paces effort with renewal; motion with stillness.

Examples in Practice

• At Work: When a project changed direction late in the process, you resisted frustration and calmly restated expectations. By staying professional and clear, you preserved relationship and momentum.
• At Home: You responded to questions with honesty but without defensiveness—proof that conviction and compassion can coexist.
• In Self-Discipline: You noticed how creativity can slip into overextension. By naming the imbalance, you reclaimed your energy and focus.
• In Rest: You chose to rest intentionally, without guilt, and saw how deliberate pauses sharpened focus.

Each moment showed moderation’s true form: strength guided by proportion.

Developing the Virtue

1. Observe Extremes
   Notice where your pendulum swings—emotionally, physically, mentally. Awareness precedes balance.
2. Delay Reaction
   When heat rises, wait. Five seconds of quiet is often the strongest response.
3. Redefine “Enough”
   Practice gratitude before reaching for more. Satisfaction is wealth.
4. Forgive Quickly
   Release resentment before it multiplies. Forgiveness restores proportion.
5. Respect Rest
   Rest is not absence but rhythm. Build margin into your days.
6. Return to the Center
   When you feel scattered, pause and breathe. Stillness is the compass of moderation.

Practical Focus Map

Aspect	Practice	Reflection
Speech	Pause before responding; measure tone and timing.	Does restraint clarify or conceal truth?
Emotion	Recognize irritation early; breathe before reply.	What truth remains once heat subsides?
Consumption	Choose one area to practice “enough.”	How does gratitude reshape desire?
Conviction	Defend ideas calmly; avoid the need to win.	Does calmness make truth more persuasive?
Rest and Pace	Schedule time for renewal; honor it as work.	What changes when rest becomes intentional?
Forgiveness	Release one small offense without fanfare.	How does mercy restore your inner balance?

The Still Center

To live moderately is not to live halfway. It is to move through life with rhythm, composure, and proportion; to let strength be gentle and conviction be calm. Moderation does not erase passion; it refines it. It is what keeps energy from becoming frenzy, work from becoming compulsion, conviction from becoming pride.

Franklin pursued moderation not to dull life, but to make it sustainable. He wanted peace without apathy, action without agitation, joy without excess. In that pursuit, he found something that still speaks centuries later: the quiet freedom of self-command.

Reflection for the Week Ahead

What would it look like to carry this still center forward into your decisions, your speech, and your pace? To let moderation set the rhythm, not the rules?

Steady, not stagnant. Firm, but gentle.

That is the heart of moderation.

Franklin’s Virtues