Helena Maria Viramontes Under The Feet Of Jesus

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Have you ever gone through an unbearable situation that has shaken you to the core? Have you felt apprehensive or uncomfortable about where you feel like giving up? This is adversity, which may overextend you mentally, emotionally, or even physically. However, the key is not letting this tear you down, since accepting and familiarizing yourself with challenges can change your life in unimaginable ways. While some may perceive adversity to be meaningless, creating more problems than benefits, there is another side to this. Although adversity fazes one, this can cause them to bounce back and effectively change in different ways. Particularly, adversity allows an individual to cultivate perseverance, self-confidence, and empathy, all of which …show more content…

Strictly speaking, self-efficacy is one’s belief in achieving peak performance and success, notwithstanding any difficulties. One can discover self-efficacy in professional settings, especially under unrealistic expectations and overwhelming responsibilities. For example, in her literary fiction novel Under the Feet of Jesus, Helena Maria Viramontes illustrates the growing pains of migrant farm workers, who generally work long hours whilst receiving minimum wage. Particularly, for the main protagonist, Estrella, and her family in the Southern California farm fields, “It was always a question of work, and work depended on the harvest, the car running, their health, the conditions of the road, how long the money held out, and the weather, which meant they could depend on nothing” (Viramontes 4). The quote from the beginning of the novel describes Estrella’s family settling into their new workplace and it foreshadows the challenges they soon face including inadequate healthcare, a shortage of food and water, financial instability, etcetera. However, albeit in an unideal situation, counterintuitively Estrella benefits. Hence, if one continually embraces adversity, they become tougher, and thus more self-assured, preparing them for succeeding …show more content…

There are a multitude of challenges and circumstances which may initially seem painful, but surprisingly one may express gratitude after learning compassion and empathy, which are essential qualities for any decent human being. Accordingly, after experiencing adversity firsthand, one becomes more empathetic as they resonate with those also struggling. Conversely, opponents may argue that adversity is a noninfluenced by one’s personality, indicating no self-development. Verily, “research evidence shows that people do not usually experience positive personality change as a result of adversity. Instead, their personality usually stays roughly the same. Or, in some cases, they might even experience declines in certain areas, such as their self-esteem or their spirituality” (B. Davis, Priebe, and Tongeren). While they may be correct in identifying that invincibility after adversity is a false growth mindset, one cannot deny this based on personal

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