For this assignment I decided to pick a top strength to further embrace and a lower strength to work on making better. My second highest ranking on the assessment and the strength I chose to further embrace was kindness and generosity. This character strength is characterized as being kind to others and happy to do favors for anyone even if you don’t know them well. The second strength I chose to focus on was my absolute bottom strength: Forgiveness and Mercy. This is characterized as not holding a grudge or seeking revenge but rather letting the feud settle and forgiveness and mercy overcome you. The week I spent working on these strengths had many ups and downs but I feel as though they ultimately came to a successful conclusion and a place where I can continue to grow from. I am going to begin with outlining the two separate plans I had for these strengths. To embrace my kindness I wanted to begin expanding my acts of kindness across the campus in any way I could. Then, I wanted to bring that kindness into myself and practice a certain amount of self kindness. To instill this self kindness I also had to learn to forgive myself and allow a longer leash than I’d previously been giving. The low result for my forgiveness and mercy levels shocked me and I realized that there were really only two grudges I …show more content…
There are strengths I always knew I had,such as kindness, that I didn’t know how to use to it’s highest effect. Then there were strengths that I just didn’t know how to use at all, such as forgiveness and mercy. It is difficult to hone such abstract states of being in oneself and I know I’ll have work harder and devise new plans and ideas to strengthen these traits and others. I believe that the process of strengthening each was beneficial to my well being as I focused on inward strength as well as outward. I can only hope that my efforts touched someone else as deeply as doing them touched
So if we want joy, love, and empathy in our lives, we need to let vulnerability into our hearts.... ... middle of paper ... ... But instead of reacting negatively, I was pleased to see that Anabella and Francisco and Santos – and all my other students – understood. They saw that I was trying my best, and that for any positive change to occur, we, all, had to put ourselves at risk in the arena.
In “Out of the Dust,” a story told by 14-year-old Billie Jo, she describes her grief and feelings of lost hope including guilt from the accidental death of her mother and her mother’s unborn child. The accident crushed Billie Jo’s hope and her spirit, as well her father’s. It is a story of remarkable struggle where Billie Jo tries to find inner strength. She seeks the light through the Oklahoma “dust”. The “dust” is symbolic as it signifies a lack of life, dreams, and hope. Billie Jo takes the reader through her emotional of the journey that evokes compassion and empathy. The reader becomes part of the story and part of Billie Jo’s persona. Her journey embraces whom we are in the most profound sense of sadness and loss of her beloved mother. The story also guides us through the powerful enlightenment that defines the clearest explanation of the human spirit. In “Out of the Dust” Billie Jo demonstrates the power of forgiveness in herself and her father. These acts of forgiveness allowed her to move past the darkness and into the light. Her story gives the reader details on how the human spirit is philanthropic by nature and a lifelong process. “Out of the Dust” captures the essence of forgiveness including the transformations that occur during the process.
There was one time in particular I found myself in a situation which in the past, would have rendered me unable to cope. My Au pair family asked me to take the train by myself to travel to their uncle’s home and bring back their child. I had only been there for a little over two weeks. I still didn't have a good understanding of the Italian language. I was worried I wouldn't make myself understood if I needed help on the way. On my way there, I got off at the wrong station and found myself lost in the center of the town’s piazza. I had never experienced anything like this, and though I was afraid, I kept calm. After an hour of backtracking, I found my way back to the train station and boarded again and was able to find the right destination. I retrieved the child and brought him back home. What an adventure! Later that evening I reflected on how unnerving and stressful the event had been. I was pleased that I’d persevered in the midst of such an anxiety-ridden and intimidating situation. This was one example where I proved to myself how capable I
Job 4:16 says, “Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.” Kindness is shown in a person’s character. Many people are afraid to display it because they are worried of what the outcome may be or what people would think of them for trying to be kind. In Love Kindness, by Barry H. Corey, we learn that “kindness needs to be rediscovered” (Corey xiii). It is easily seen by the way one person acts or speaks towards someone that we can tell if kindness is being radiated off of them or not. Within my reflection, I will be comparing niceness and kindness and the major difference between the two of those, as well as how we can keep our “firm center” and “soft edges”.
As Theodore Roosevelt once said, “…there is no effort without error and shortcoming;” and having read Brené Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection and Daring Greatly, I wholeheartedly agree with that statement, and Brown’s decision to include it in her book. I chose to read Daring Greatly because I love Brown’s witty remarks and humor, also because it seemed like a book I might actually take something away from, and I was not wrong. I have never been the type of person to read self-help books, but Brown has made me a firm believer through both The Gifts of Imperfection and Daring Greatly, and I do not think you can truly reflect on one without also reflecting on the other. Through chapter after chapter of personal testimony, dedicated research,
Forgiveness is one of the hardest things to do concerning one another’s well-being. The step of forgiveness requires us to look past the wrongs that have been done to us, and without any sort of retribution or atonement of sorts, drop that wrong-doing out of the scope of the relationship and move on. Christianity and Psychology have differing, yet surprisingly similar ways of looking at the role of forgiving one another. The agreement is obvious, Psychologists and Christians alike recognize that forgiveness has great value in preserving relationships, not just personal but communal as well. The disagreement tends to be a difference of opinion in what context forgiveness is appropriate. The question then bears itself, who is right? Should we
For personal and professional growth, given my personality traits, I need to embrace my strengths and weaknesses. I must use my strengths to my advantage, to be more effective academically and in the workplace, but I also need to identify and try to overcome my weaknesses, especially professionally.
The virtue of kindness is not meek it is not niceness. Kindness holds firm to its foundation and values, but it does it in a way that is gentle. Kindness is not naïve, it is wise and discerning (Corey, 211). People confuse being nice as kindness because on the outside both are soft. The inside is what shows the difference. Niceness has no substance, it will go wherever society takes it. Kindness is different, it has a firm, solid center (Corey xv). The components of soft edges and firm centers make kindness warm and inviting and yet it remains deeply rooted to its core beliefs.
In so many ways society impacts our lives and put perceptions on how everyone should look and act. Everyday everyone, including myself, looks at these perceptions and cannot help but take something from them. I always try to keep my identity unique and cherish my values but every now and then it seems like I have changed. In someway that is always true but it is hard not to wonder how much change was due to social standards.
When I opened my yearbook, I began to reminisce about my half year of high school in China. As I flipped through the pages of the yearbook, a picture of an old man with a benevolent smile caught my eyes. Daydreaming about the incident, my eyesight became hazy, and I felt my hands becoming swollen, which always refreshes my memory of his profound words.
Forgiveness, however you see it, from spiritual to psychological, it is surely a process. But what is forgiveness and how can one achieve it? There are many blogs, books, and scriptures to show how forgiveness is a necessary step into growing as a person. Dr. Wayne W. Dryer, Zack Carter, Michelle Rad, and Diana Gruver all have research points or have previous experience within forgiveness to give advice and to help understand it, along with how to forgive. This research will point out main topics and/or steps on the spiritual aspect and psychological understanding to forgive and how it progresses for one’s self.
Forgiveness is the intentional and voluntary process by which a victim undergoes a change in feelings and attitude regarding an offense. It is also the discarding of negative emotions, such as revenge, with an increased ability to wish the offender well. In this study, the researcher explored how justification and apologies have to be phrased and framed to render them acceptable to the victims.
My first strength is kindness. Since I am mostly around children, kindness allows them to like me and be comfortable around me. The last strength is listening, I listen to all of my friends if they need someone to talk to. Listening allows me to be their support system. Even though I have different strengths, there are also some challenges. Some of these challenges are similar to the life of St. Francis and St. Clare. Some of my challenges are deciding whether I picked the right choice and ability to handle change. There are many events in my life where I wasn’t sure if I made the right decision or not. For example, I recently switched my major and I wasn’t sure if I made the right choice and if my parents would agree with it. This is similar to St. Francis’s life because he kept changing what he wanted to do with his life and wanted his parents approval. Francis was still his father’s son, unconsciously pursuing what his father valued reputation, status and wealth (Sweeney, 2014, p.34). Francis wanted to this in order to make his father proud but as time went on he knew what he wanted to do even though his parents might not agree to it. Francis always questioned himself in the decisions that he made frequently ( Egler, October 2015). Another challenge is the ability to handle change. I have a difficult time trying to accept change because I usually like the way things are. I don’t like change when I have no control over
In my life time I have accomplished many extraordinary tasks that I’ve put my mind too. I discovered that my signature themes have greatly affected the methods that I use to complete these tasks. People use their strengths in everyday life as well as in crucial, life changing situations. Important self-building achievement is one factor that makes people who they are. Another is the way that people apply there strengths to different situations.
“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.” Martin Luther King. The concept of forgiveness comes easily to some people but hard for others. It is a choice that every human being is faced with in one’s lifetime. Forgiveness is a deep-rooted emotion that controls the process of forgiving or being forgiven. Forgiveness requires compassion and a caring heart; it is truly a selfless act. There are many views and effects when discussing the topic of forgiveness, some of these include, the religious views as well as the positive and negative effects of forgiveness.