“You should be thankful,” my mother said. It was dinner out after high school graduation and the mood was as merry as could be. But it wasn’t one of those unconditionally cheerful atmospheres; it was too hot during that June night and I could tell something would eventually shift the ambiance into a hostile one, but I had no clue I would be doing it. Unable to hold back my mild annoyance, “What is there to be thankful for? I got to where I am on my own with nothing else” I yelled, remembering those long nights wasted studying for subjects I knew I would not be seeing again and perfecting my butterfly stroke in that chlorinated hell. Even I knew that I had crossed the line at the moment, but it still felt justified. As anyone could’ve guessed, …show more content…
The chapter on “Rejuvenation” was instrumental in my discovery of my next steps. A fair portion of the chapter discusses diet and exercise. “Walking at a good pace” (179) is considered to have a favorable impact on the growth of new neurons. As it is clear the neurons that would link gratitude to growth and meaningful conversations instead of failure need to be cultivated, exercise would seem to be conducive to my process in addition to the obvious habit of saying the magic words. In addition, I eat the same three meals every day because it allows for better planning. Time is also saved because I don’t have to think about what to cook. Meals should be varied through experimentation, I could learn from failure. Creating areas in which I could learn from failure such as cooking and exercise seem to be an indirect, yet effective method of dealing with my subconscious. More interestingly, Doidge writes that “Nothing speeds brain atrophy more than being immobilized in the same environment” (179). The sentence felt uncomfortable in that my unintentional application of a static high school oriented mindset to a more variable college environment was preventing me from growing in my college career. I became fearful that at the end of four years I would have absolutely nothing to show for my development and felt the need to change the way I
Thanksgiving break a bust,I thought.The fall air swept through as my sister and I kept playing volleyball.My mom came bursting out,she was trying to catch her breath as I questioned,
The Five Elements of a story and novel are the theme, the plot, the setting, characters, and conflict. However, each element should rely and emphasize each other throughout the story. A prime example of this is found in the short story, “Thank You, Ma'am.” The story was written in 1958 by Langston Hughes. It is about a poor boy named Roger, who tries to steal a woman's purse. The woman, Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones, responds, however, in a very unexpected way. Mrs. Jones takes Roger, who tried to steal from her, to her house and shows him kindness. So the first theme of “Thank You, Ma'am” is 'be kind to everyone, even if they don't deserve it.' But, then, Mrs. Jones later reveals to him that she, too, used to be just like Roger, and that she used to steal and do worse things than that. Thus, the second theme is 'you can always work past and issue and
As I stated earlier, when I graduated from High school, I didn’t have a care in the world. My biggest worry was where I wanted to play baseball, and where I was going out that weekend. I was given a car for graduation as well as a credit card for gas. After graduation I received a baseball scholarship and didn’t have to worry about how to pay for school. This along with other things that I had taken for granted led me to believe that the whole world was peachy with nothing negative that would affect me. The only trauma in my life was if a certain girl didn’t want to go out with me. This to me was a significant emotional event. Not only was I naive, I was somewhat jaded as well. I believe this was a result of the environment that I grew up in as a child. I moved to a different part of the country every two years from...
Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit, acknowledges how habits control our daily lives in every decision we make. For Instance, an ambitious woman named Lisa Allen, has not always had a fruitful life. Previously, she had abused her body with harmful toxins such as tobacco and alcohol since the beginning of her teenage years. Carrying out these habits everyday resulted her into being unmotivated and unconfident. In fact, she never kept a job longer than a year and began to fall into major debt. “She needed a goal in her life, she thought. Something to work toward” (xii-xiv). It begins with the “three-step loop” a cue that triggers our brain to do the habit. Next a routine, a set of actions that are either physical or mental. Finally a reward of satisfaction that determines whether or not this habit will be continuous (19). Not all habits can be good, but this is where the golden rule applies. Duhigg explains that in order for you to change your habit “ you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine”(62). “However, simply understanding how habits work- learning the structure of the habit loop makes them easier to control”( 20). Reading The Power of Habit, helped me understand the process by which I made a positive change to fight procrastination.
In the short story Thank You Ma'am by Langston Hughes, the main character Mrs. Jones is kind. In the story a young boy named Roger tries to steal from her. She catches him, confronts him, realizes that he is poor and has no family and immediately takes him in. She cares for him, teaches him right from wrong and feeds him. She gets him back on his feet with what she could give and sends him off back into the real world. Mrs. Jones is kind because she teaches Roger a lesson, she helps him, and she wants a good future for him.
The integration of a nutrient-dense whole food diet has assisted me in having a positive mental attitude during challenging situations. In stressful or uncomfortable circumstances, I challenge myself to first focus on a positive aspect of each situation. Not being so quick pick out the negative, my mental attitude stays even throughout the day without facing a roller coaster of emotions. I have struggled in the past with being too hasty to judge a situation negatively, which led me to become angry and upset very quickly. My husband commented regularly on how pessimistic I had become over the years. I directly link this negative attitude to stressful family and work relationships, lack of physical activity, and poor dietary habits. With his support and surpassing my dietary inadequacies, I have been in a position to overcome this dismal attitude and can now find the positive in situations which once were impossible.
Being thankful is a very holy thing to do and it gets you closer to God which makes being thankful important. Being thankful is also important because being thankful is a big thing to make you happy. If you don’t appreciate the things you have but instead only think about everything that you could have you will never be happy. Appreciating the things that you have and being thankful for them will make you happy. Also, at one point you might lose what you have and be left with nothing, and only then you will notice that you had many things that you should have appreciated but now, you don’t have it anymore. So, it's better to appreciate what you have now like your grandparents, where you live, and your parents because you might not have it later.
I can resocialize myself to create a better mindset and healthier habits by accepting things that are not
Growing up in a middle-class family we always had more than enough to share, especially during the holidays.
It seemed like a normal day when I entered Mrs. A’s AP Language and Composition class, but little did I know that she was going to assign a very important project that was going to take forever. I took my seat and wrote down what was on the board. Then I sat patiently and waited for Mrs. A to come explain what we were doing today. When the tardy bell rang, Mrs. A glided into the room and gave us all a stack of papers. She then proceeded to discuss our upcoming assignment, a memoir. As she explained the very important assignment, I wondered whom I would write about. No one really came to mind to write about and I thought for sure I would never be able to get this thing done on time. I finally decided that I would write in on my mother, Kari Jenson. I knew I would probably put the project off until the very end and do it the weekend before even though it would get on my mom’s nerves. Putting work off was just how I did everything, it worked for me. When I arrived home from school that day, I told mom about the project. I told her I would most likely write it about her and she was overjoyed.
My parents sensed my troubles and we moved. Adjusting to a new high school took time. It was not easy making new friends and I continued to be lost. These incidents weighed heavily on my mind. My anguished heart refused to see beyond my own woes. A recent disturbing incident changed my purview of life.
A tenet of Buddhist philosophy for centuries, self-compassion has recently emerged as a promising intervention in Western Psychology with the potential to yield greater life satisfaction, social connectedness, emotional intelligence, and happiness while minimizing anxiety, depression, shame, fear of failure, and burnout (Barnard & Curry, 2011). In Buddhist tradition, a self-compassionate individual responds to his/her personal suffering with wisdom, loving-kindness, and mindfulness that extends beyond the self to all others who are suffering (Reyes, 2011). The Western definition of self-compassion derives mainly from the work
Introduction This assignment is drawn as a case study about forensic psychology in which rape allegations have been made by one party to another party. This case study will analyze different elements and factors which are related to this case. The role of forensic psychology will be discussed in a manner so that the impacts and consequences of the issue will be further examined and elaborated. Forensic psychology can be defined as the submission and utilization of clinical specialties to legal ground.
I decided that my actions were no longer beneficial to me and I wanted to charge. This transition was scary I had to leave the only friends I’d had outside of my brother and start over. My eleventh grade year changed my life. I didn’t have high school or myself figured out yet but I was ready to dive in and swim. I’d tried fitting in mimicking trends and behaviors of everyone else. Then one day I reflected on my experiences and what I had gained from them, nothing! I wasn’t popular, cool, and I didn’t have a girlfriend or any prospects. Trying to fit in was a constant failure, my last resort was to just be myself. My junior year was the year that I decided to be myself my attitude was positive. I was kind, smart, funny, and I had style. I began to work every day after school at McDonald’s and I joined the drama club. With the money from my job I started buying nicer clothes I didn’t always have the newest fashions or the best attire but my confidence was radiant. The drama club shed light on my humorous side participating in school plays showed my peers my talents. Girls began to notice me I got a girlfriend and I’d had a few admirers. High school wasn’t so bad after all. My eleventh grade year was the first year of high school that concluded in a triumphant
While in school, Mom didn’t have it easy. Not only did she raise a daughter and take care of a husband, she had to deal with numerous setbacks. These included such things as my father suffering a heart attack and going on to have a triple by-pass, she herself went through an emergency surgery, which sat her a semester behind, and her father also suffered a heart attack. Mom not only dealt with these setbacks, but she had the everyday task of things like cooking dinner, cleaning the house and raising a family. I don’t know how she managed it all, but somehow she did.