Chase The Kangaroo

The Steady Center

“Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.”
~ Benjamin Franklin

Tranquility is not retreat; it’s control under pressure. It’s the ability to keep your footing when the ground shifts and to move through the noise with a clear, steady heart. This week, practice the kind of calm that comes from strength—composure, clarity, and presence.

Historical & Philosophical Context

When Benjamin Franklin penned his eleventh virtue, Tranquility, he had already worked through the moral scaffolding that makes composure possible. Temperance disciplined the body. Order aligned the day. Justice directed the will. By the time he arrived at tranquility, Franklin was describing not a starting point, but a summit—a state of poise earned through practice.

In the Autobiography, Franklin wrote of his desire to remain “undisturbed at trifles,” a phrase that reveals both his self-awareness and his environment. Eighteenth-century Philadelphia was a city of ambition and noise. Franklin lived in the thick of it as a publisher, inventor, statesman—yet he knew that without calm at the core, activity becomes agitation.

Tranquility, to Franklin, was not escape from the world but strength within it. It meant maintaining one’s reason under the strain of circumstance, a steadiness of temper that no inconvenience could shake. The man who could stay composed in the face of accident or insult was not passive; he was free. He could govern himself while others were governed by impulse.

The idea had deep philosophical roots. The Stoics called it ataraxia—freedom from disturbance through mastery of one’s own judgments. Franklin absorbed those ideas from Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, but applied them practically. He wasn’t seeking transcendence; he was seeking reliability.

To him, tranquility was the virtue that kept all others intact under pressure. It protected temperance from rigidity, order from perfectionism, and industry from restlessness. It made virtue durable.

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.”
~ William James

Franklin’s Intent

Franklin placed Tranquility near the end of his thirteen virtues for a reason. By the time one arrives here, the earlier disciplines have already shaped a life of restraint and purpose. Tranquility keeps those virtues from collapsing under pressure.

To “be not disturbed at trifles” sounds simple, but Franklin knew its difficulty. Trifles are constant: delays, interruptions, disappointments, and offenses. They are the ordinary friction of life. Franklin’s intent was not to remove irritation from the world but to remove its power over him.

He sought disciplined calm, not detachment, but control. Like a craftsman steadying his hands before the strike, the virtuous man steadies his heart before he acts. Tranquility is the test of strength: the ability to remain composed, useful, and upright even when the world presses in.

“No man is free who is not master of himself.”
~ Epictetus

Stoic and Christian Parallels

The Stoics believed peace was the reward of mastery—of thought, perception, and will. Marcus Aurelius wrote that “the mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting; the impediment to action advances action.” In their world, tranquility wasn’t softness; it was command. The man who could pause before reacting had already won the battle within.

Franklin admired that kind of self-government. His call to “be not disturbed” echoes the Stoic conviction that circumstances don’t define us—our judgments do.

Christian thought deepened that insight. Where the Stoic relied on discipline alone, the Christian drew from faith. Paul called it “the peace of God, which surpasses understanding.” It is not detachment from the world but trust within it—the confidence that reality is held by Someone greater than the self.

Real peace, the kind that is centered and unwavering, comes from Christ. In the moments when I pause before reacting, that peace becomes tangible. The pause is not hesitation; it’s strength reclaimed—the moment when reason and grace meet, when listening replaces reflex.

“The one who has peace within himself carries it everywhere he goes.”
~ Thomas à Kempis

Modern Relevance

Tranquility is rare currency in a distracted age. The world rewards reaction, the instant replies, quick takes, visible emotion. Everything is engineered to pull the mind from its center. But the man who can stay composed under pressure, who can think clearly when others rush, becomes an anchor in the storm.

Modern life trains us to confuse motion with progress. We chase urgency and call it importance. Franklin’s counsel cuts through the noise: Be not disturbed. It’s the discipline of measured response, the refusal to give trifles the authority they don’t deserve.

This isn’t withdrawal; it’s strength under control. Every irritation doesn’t warrant a reaction, and every delay doesn’t demand a complaint. Tranquility is the ability to absorb disorder without losing form, to act with purpose instead of impulse.

In a workday full of demands, interruptions, and uneven expectations, this virtue becomes practical armor. The difference lies in response. To stay calm is not to surrender; it’s to lead—to carry weight without being weighed down.

The modern man who cultivates tranquility doesn’t disappear from the fight, he just fights differently. He knows that steadiness is power, and that composure often accomplishes more than noise ever could.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
~ Viktor Frankl

Examples in Practice

Tranquility doesn’t announce itself. It’s revealed in how we respond when things don’t go as planned.

It shows up in the morning routine that unravels and the man who adjusts without losing stride. It’s in the decision to drop one task and move forward rather than spiral into frustration.

It’s there at work, when others bring disorganization or urgency. The man who keeps his composure turns noise into clarity. He sets boundaries without hostility, delivers his part without resentment, and keeps focus on what truly matters.

And it’s present in conversation, when the old reflex to react gives way to the practiced pause. That pause isn’t weakness, it’s control. It opens space for engagement and understanding.

Tranquility is not about retreating from conflict; it’s about governing it. It’s leadership expressed through calm, the steady voice in a tense room, the breath before the next step.

“Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.”
~ commonly attributed to Winston Churchill

Churchill embodied restraint in the face of crisis—especially during the fall of France, when Britain stood alone and panic could have fractured the nation. His calm was deliberate, not detached. He absorbed pressure without transmitting it, turning composure into leadership.

Key Aspects of Tranquility

• Composure: The ability to remain steady when pressure rises and emotion pulls for control.
• Clarity: Seeing situations as they are, not as fear or frustration paints them.
• Restraint: Choosing response over reaction—strength directed, not discharged.
• Faith: Anchoring peace in something greater than circumstance; the trust that steadiness is sustained, not summoned.
• Endurance: Holding the line when plans shift, timelines tighten, or fatigue sets in.

“First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.”
~ Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

Developing the Virtue

Tranquility is forged through habit i.e. awareness, restraint, and re-centering. Awareness creates choice; the pause opens control; acceptance protects peace; rhythm builds endurance. To remain strong without being rigid, calm without being passive; that’s the aim.

“Rule your mind, or it will rule you.”
~ Horace

Practical Focus Map

Area	Practice
Morning Rhythm	Begin the day in stillness – read, pray, or sit quietly before engaging the world.
Workday Interruptions	When distractions arise, take one breath before responding. Choose composure over reaction.
Unexpected Changes	Accept what shifts outside your control. Adjust without complaint and keep moving forward.
Conversations	Listen fully before replying. Let understanding precede speech.
Faith and Centering	Re-anchor peace in Christ daily through Scripture, prayer, or reflection.
Physical Grounding	Use movement – walking, lifting, stretching – to settle the mind and release tension.
Evening Reset	Reflect on the day’s disturbances. Note what held steady and where peace was lost.
Weekly Sabbath	Step back from striving. Rest with intention, not avoidance.

“Calmness is the cradle of power.”
~ Josiah Gilbert Holland

Closing Thought

Tranquility is not escape; it’s strength under control. It’s the mark of a man who has learned that peace isn’t found in the absence of trouble, but in mastery of himself within it.

Franklin understood that the world will never stop testing a person’s resolve. The delays, the noise, the friction of daily life—these are constants. What defines a man is whether those moments shake his center or reveal it.

True tranquility is disciplined practice, born of faith, restraint, and habit. It’s not weakness; it’s readiness: the ability to move with purpose when others freeze, to think clearly when emotion clouds judgment, to bring order where there is disorder.

The goal is not to feel peaceful, but to be peaceful, to carry composure like armor, not ornament. The world doesn’t need more noise. It needs men who can stay steady in it.

Franklin’s Virtues