Achieving the impossible is possible

Achieving the impossible is possible

Prosperity is traditionally defined as a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition, especially in financial respects. However, prosperity does not only fall within these traditional boundaries. One can be prosperous in many ways. For instance at Lexington High School, one can be defined as prosperous if one is able to achieve a constant state of happiness while not conforming to society's ideals. Benjamin Franklin’s The Way to Wealth provides key advise for achieving the state of mind needed to prosper at LHS. His proverbial wisdom clearly states the steps that are needed in order achieve a constant state of happiness, thus being defined as prosperous. These steps are broken down into three categories. First, spend your time doing what you want and enjoy, not what you think will look good on your resume. Second, develop healthy habits that will help with your mood. Lastly, do not conform to society's ideals. Be the person that you want to be. Following Franklin’s advice will propel you to the highest level of prosperity at LHS.

            Time is impalpable and can never be recovered once it is lost. Using your time wisely is very important in reaching prosperity at LHS. Franklin harps on the importance of time; he states that “dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that is the stuff that life is made of”. Many LHS students are guilty of depleting their time. This happens because many students are not doing what they enjoy. Students over time have become too concerned with padding their resumes for college. This means that many students are wasting colossal amounts of time doing activities that they do not like because they believe these activities will get them one step ahead. In turn, these students become miserable. The few students that follow Franklin’s advice of loving life by using their time wisely will be the happiest. Participating in activities because you like them and not because you think that it will look good on a college resume is the most successful use of your time.

The competitive nature of LHS has overshadowed the importance of time. Franklin’s wisdom “lost time is never found again” will be a wake up call to almost all of the students. Many of the students that are constantly running from one activity to the next think that they are prospering. These students are mistaken. Most need to take a step back and reevaluate if they are happy constantly abusing time that can never be recovered. The answer for most will be no. This means that many of the so called high achieving students are not flourishing. On the contrary the students that do not squander time by following Franklin’s advice are prosperous. They are happy because they are spending their time the way that they want to, thus enjoying life and reducing stress.

            Happiness is easily ruined by the constant stress of work and responsibilities. At LHS the stress can sometimes make it impossible to prosper. Some students posses very unhealthy habits that if fixed can easily reduce stress. Franklin gives excellent advice on reducing stress by developing healthy habits. He states “early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”. The lack of sleep that roams the halls at LHS is astounding. Not having a long enough rest period can severely hurt someone’s well-being. Also, it brings many more challenges throughout the day. Without the proper amount of sleep, brains have a hard time functioning. This will make it very hard to perform at one’s highest potential, resulting in poor grades. If students took into consideration the amount of sleep that is necessary for one’s health and happiness as Franklin did, then a lot more people would prosper. Instead most do not take Franklin’s advice and endure the horrible cycle of stress that is caused by lack of sleep.

            Another stressor for most LHS students is the lack of leisure time. It has been instilled in the students that in order to succeed one must always be working. This lesson, however, is wrong. A prolonged period without leisure time results in unhappiness. However Franklin, again, has the perfect anecdote:  “a life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things”. According to Franklin, taking a break and having time to distress is not the same as being lazy. Laziness comes when you have something that you have to do but you do not put in the effort. Leisure is a privilege that you earn through completing your tasks with hard work. The people who prosper at LHS are the ones that know when enough is enough and they make a habit of taking time for themselves. Following the few guidelines made by Franklin will result in a healthier and happier life.

            High school is a time in  life that you can begin to discover the kind of person you want to be. However most people at LHS crumble under the social pressures and conform to society's ideals of the perfect high school student. They become the person that they know will be accepted, not necessarily the person they truly are. This struggle of identity will destroy one’s happiness at LHS. Franklin warns against this, he states “trusting too much to others’ care is the ruin of many”. In order to prosper you cannot get sucked into trusting societies perception of what you should be. Examples include: the way that you should dress; how you should behave; and the friends that you should have. Once you conform, you will constantly be trying to keep up with the trends set by society. In order to accomplish this you must buy many things that are expensive, ultimately leaving you in debt and unhappy. Franklin has an easy fix: “‘tis easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it”. If you are a strong enough student to suppress the desire to conform in the first place, than you will not be so unhappy. It is easy to be happy, all that one must do is be true to oneself. That is the only way that you will prosper. The students at LHS who do not follow Franklin's wisdom on conformity will be in a constant battle with themselves. They will be unhappy and never reach the level of prosperity that they wish to achieve during their high school career.  

            Every student has the potential to be prosperous at LHS. All that one must do is follow Franklin’s words of wisdom. His proverbial phrases will give the guidance necessary to reach a constant state of happiness. As hard as it might seem to achieve this goal, especially at such a highly competitive and stressful place, everyone can do it if one chooses. Take what Franklin has said and begin to apply it to your life where it may fit. Start to cherish your time instead of wasting it on activities that are not enjoyable. Begin to develop healthier habits that will lead to a healthier life. Do not become a person based off of society’s rules. Let yourself develop naturally. The final piece of Franklin’s wisdom is “Get what you can, and what you get hold; ‘Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold”. In other words, you can only do the best you can and let the rest fall into place.