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Overcoming obstacles and challenges
Overcoming obstacles and challenges
Review of literature on work life balance
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“It’s what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their personal legend is,” I read to myself (Coelho 21). My eyes read the line again and again as if I were confused. I wondered to myself if I had a personal legend. That night, the moon shone brighter than it did any other nights. I could see it through the window of my room and looked at it as I thought about personal legends. My eyes drifted away from the paper and looked at my clock. I noticed it was already ten o’clock at night. I quickly panicked because I forgot about all of my other homework. I read the words “personal legend” one more time and thought to myself, “Maybe I don't have a personal legend.” I woke up to a strange place, a room I have never …show more content…
I was needed immediately in the emergency room. I ran as quickly as I could to get there. When I arrived I noticed my patient was a seven year old girl got in a car accident with her Mom because of a drunk driver. I performed surgery on her and her Mom. After I checked up on my other patients I went back to her to see how she was doing. “It’s so horrible how someone so young can be in so much pain because of someone making an immature decision,” I thought.
“I want to be a doctor just like you,” she said in a quiet voice. “Hannah! Hannah get up you can’t be late to school!” my mom shouted from the other side of my room. “Ok Mom,” I said with confusion filling my voice. I looked around and realized it was a dream. A dream that showed me my personal legend. A dream that showed me what I have always wanted to do. In the moment, I was sad that I wasn’t living my dream anymore, but at least I had a path to follow. I got up, went to school and did my best each and every day. When I got sick, I would think of my personal legend and it would push me to still do my absolute best. Now I am twenty seven years old, and am the person I dreamed about being ever since the night moon shone
The four main characters in the book are Drue “True” Robinson, Lee Atkins, Urban “Legend” Donald Sellers, and Mr. Gilbert. Drue is a rising basketball star from New York City. He played in an all-star game, where Mr. Gilbert first noticed him. Mr. Gilbert convinced Drue and his mom to come to the east coast where he would find his mom a job and a nice home. Drue became friends with Lee the first day of school and later in the book he becomes friends with Legend.
(Coelho 26) For example, Santiago’s first true test was to decide to leave behind his flock of sheep on the rolling hillside and follow his heart for adventure and head to Egypt in search of unknown treasure. Deep within himself, Santiago is questioning life and the meaning of it. But, it is only through a series of trials, adversities, and successes, that he comes to find his “Personal Legend”. (Coelho 26) Throughout the entire process Santiago does not lose sight of his objective, he maintained his focus on reaching the end of his goal. The qualities that Santiago personified of fate, commitment, love, and listening to the omens are what Paulo Coelho is teaching his readers to examine regarding their own “Personal
In the novel The Alchemist it tells a story of a boy who is in search of his Personal Legend. A Personal Legend is the means in which a person can live a satisfying life, in other words ones destiny in life. As the novel states the only way to achieve perfection is if all natural things continuously undergo a cycle of achieving their Personal Legend, evolving into a higher being with a new Personal Legend, and then pursuing that new goal. This concept, that the individualistic pursuit of a Personal Legend exists as life’s dominant—perhaps only—spiritual demand, lies at the center of the unique theology of The Alchemist. As we see when Santiago must give up his flock, material success and even love pose obstacles to Santiago achieving his Personal
Stephen Richards once said, “When you do what you fear most, then you can do anything.” Joseph Campbell has written a three stage theory that every hero in a story goes through, a journey if you will. Every journey is different, but it's always structured around his formula, a hero will: separate from his/her known world into a new one, they'll challenge opposing forces or complete a series of tests, and lastly they return to their world again with a gift. Going along with this formula I've gone through my own hero's journey, and succeeded.
It had been a rough couple of weeks for our hospital. Just the week before this day two grown men had been pinned under the currents of a local river and drowned. It felt like hours standing there waiting in dismay for the ambulance to arrive. When we finally heard the blaring sound of the truck backing up we scurried to our places, ready to go. It’s such a surreal feeling to see someone trying to be resuscitated.
A personal legend is the idea that our lives are predestined by the gods and we have a legend we all must follow to live a fulfilling life, Except you don’t. The novel The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho uses personal legends as a plot device, the main character’s drive to keep going is that he will reach his personal legend and fulfill his life. The problem is that to fulfill your life you do not need to achieve your personal legend. You do not even need a personal legend. Fulfillment is relative from person to person, but one condition remains, happiness. If you want a fulfilling life you don’t need to follow your dreams, you just need to be happy with your stake in life.
This reflection paper is based on the life history interview conducted on me and a 78-year-old woman who is soon going to celebrate her 79th birthday on Sep 21st. I would call her with a fictitious name “Smita” in the entire paper to maintain and protect her privacy. The interview was about our life. It was divided into six major life categories: childhood, adulthood, identity, the present, aging, and life lessons. Having an opportunity to interview a 78-year-old woman and writing this reflective paper about the life history and experiences had made me realize that I have a lot to learn about the stages of human life. Every individual lives are different and it varies tremendously. As an interviewee my goal was to collect the details of life, different stories, and experiences that makes our life unique from the rest of the people.
Shortly after I had learned to drive, my mother called me while I was at the store. She told me in an urgent voice that she was in a lot of pain and had to be taken to the doctor. I immediately left the store and drove my poor mother to the health center where she could be helped. After waiting for what seemed like forever, my mother was finally taken back to see the doctor. As it turned out, my mother had a condition that caused spasms of pain throughout the day. Despite the fact that she had this condition, she was given a minimal amount of Vicodin to get her through the agonizing pain. She suffered through the pain for weeks, and the medicine did little to help the spasms that shook her whole body. I watched her in despair. If it was the doctor’s job to help her, why didn’t he do anything to assuage her pain?
To further contradict the idea that following one’s personal legend is narcissistic, the text says that you also realize why you are in the world which further goes against the idea of being self-loving, as knowing what your purpose in the world distracts you from thinking about yourself and makes you focus on your personal legend. The king of Salaam said to Santiago what a personal legend was and described where personal legends originate: “It’s because that desire originated in the soul of the universe. It’s your mission on Earth” (22). The king is saying to Santiago that all personal legends are created by the universe, but are given to others on Earth to perform and fulfill those personal legends. This means that the pursuits of the personal legends are not from being narcissistic, but from the universe.
“I am Legend” is difficult to read but also to put down. The utter loneliness, the sheer magnitude of hopelessness
Dr. D is a cardiothoracic surgeon. He was my hero. He may well still be, even though he is a throw-back to the days when I was more concerned about science than symbolism.
When someone asks me what I want to be when I grow up, I say that I do not know, but I do know. At a very young age, I discovered my passion for the field of medicine. Growing up, my parents were very sick, and even though they would not admit it, I could tell they were constantly in pain. My father had diabetes and my mother chronic arthritis. I hated to see them suffer and promised myself that one day I would help them. After my older brother went into nursing, he began to help people like my parents; I knew that was what I wanted to do one day. I wanted to make people feel better just like he did, and I am doing everything I can to make my dreams a reality.
In December, my father suffered a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. His heart stopped twice during the operation, and he was not expected to survive. He had an intensive recovery period, and I wanted nothing more than to make him better immediately. His trauma had made me impatient and afraid to hope. I was having trouble waiting for things to unfold naturally and wanted to know what would happen in the end. Simple, everyday decisions or occurrences took on great importance.
Two-thirds of children who participate in extracurricular activities are expected to attain at least a bachelor’s degree, whereas only half of children that do not participate do (National Center for Education Statistics, 1995). Childhood is a very important time in our lives, a time when we develop many vital skills that follow us into adulthood. Some people laugh or scoff at us parents that keep our children to busy schedules. Those same people would also argue that our children should be allowed to have a childhood, to not be so tightly scheduled in their daily lives. Before jumping on that bandwagon, I would suggest doing a little research. Participating in after-school activities has shown to benefit children in many ways. Children should
Oh my God! TJ!“ It was just my mom.She was crying and calling my name again and again.I was so embarrassed and disappointed of my self.I had let her down. After, two of the EMT guys put us on an ambulance. Finally,we made our way to the hospital. My friend john and me were sent in palo alto medical center. It took us about fifteen minute to get there. My friend john was alright. He had a couple of stitches in his head and his arm. He got relieved after a couple of tests but, I was severely injured. I was lying on a hospital bed and thinking what I would have done in the past. Cause this terrible accident happened to me. I was sent to el camino hospital, where I went to the operation theater for my hipbones surgery.The doctor told me after surgery that my hipbones was fractured the reason they had to put a plate in hipbones to stay together.Although, my left arm was also fractured the reason I could not feel my arm. After surgery, they took me to the other room and gave me a couple of injections. Momentarily, I went to sleep. I woke up in the next day and thinking hopefully it was just a dream,but it’s not. I opened my eyes and saw a couple of relative looking me like a stranger. My dad came over my bed and gave me a hug and I literally started crying after thinking about the accident. I could not believe after a massive car accident I was still alive. Doctors kept in hospital couple of