Chapter 35 - Looking Beyond Behavior
In your own words, describe the meaning of Loving-Kindness.
Loving-kindness to me mean two things depending on how I read it. The first meaning is to love being kind, love inspiring positivity in others, and love making peoples day. Through this meaning its important to create kindness for others in order to be happy yourself. The second meaning is is show love through kindness. I believe this meaning is much more important. It sounds like another love language to me. I believe I show love through kindness and kind acts towards other people. It’s important to be kind to those we love and share this kindness to share your love.
Chapter 36 - See The Innocence
What occurs when we practice compassion toward others and let go of “their” story, rather than be caught up in the drama of a situation?
By letting go of hate and grudges, we allow for ourselves to be more clam and centered. Getting involved in drama only makes the situation worse for everyone. Practicing compassion is important when trying to resolve conflicts to make sure all sides are seen and understood. At the end of the day, some battles are simply not worth fighting and its more important to be compassionate rather than right. In that same light however, it’s important to not let people walk all over you in life. Therefore, as important as compassion is, its also important to know your worth and know when something is worth fighting for to you.
Chapter 37 - Choose Being Kind Over Being Right
Define equanimity. Do you practice this in your life? Look to your Ego first before you answer…
Equanimity to me is the ability to control your emotions throughout various situations. I am extremely aware of my emotions is these situations however, I have difficulty controlling them. There are situations where I believe it is important to show your emotions unfortunately, my emotions show in almost every situations. I’ve slowly but surely been learning how to control my emotions especially my anger. Learning which battles to pick is one of the hardest aspects for me. When I feel disrespected my immediate emotion is anger and confrontations, however sometimes I need to remember that not everyone is out to get me and accidental disrespect happens. Sometimes it just isn’t that deep.
Chapter 38 - Tell Three People (Today) How Much You Love Them
In picking 3 people, who would you choose and why them?
The first person I would pick is my mom. She has always been my number one supporter and shown my love throughout everything I’ve done. She is the first person to tell me when I’m doing something wrong but also the first one to give me advice. I don’t believe I can ever tell her how much I love her simply because she is too amazing for that. She’s been the main reason behind my success and she’s the reason I’m the person I am today. The second person would be my sister. Although her and I fight often, I know I can always count on her to have my back no matter the situation. We’ve always been super close and she’s the first person I go to when I need to rant. The third person I would say is myself. This sounds extremely selfish but positive self talk is important. I often find myself struggling with negative self talk and being able to remind myself that I do love myself and who I am is important. I don’t use the word “love” lightly and very few people I trust enough to use the word “love” genuinely with them.
Chapter 39 - Practice Humility
Describe a time when you saw an individual or a group lack humility. How did that make you feel about said individual/group? No need to share names in this example.
Playing sport I often run into groups that lack humility and sportsmanship and honestly it makes playing the game less fun. When playing someone who doesn’t have good sportsmanship or humility I almost pray for their downfall just to see them be humbled. This is a negative trait but I can’t help to feel that karma should knock them down a few levels. It brings out hatred and anger in myself. I don’t necessarily feel sad or put down just because I’m confident in my abilities but it makes me hope that person fails. I sound like a bad person again but it’s the truth. I feel most people can relate to this as well. It’s hard not to hate someone who thinks they are perfect.
Chapter 40 - When in Doubt about Whose Turn It Is to Take out the Trash, Go Ahead and Take it Out.
What is your perspective/opinion of this article? Valid, or a waste of time?
I understand this article and the reasoning behind it. However, I’m a very big advocate of not being walked all over and I believe this idea could result in people being taken advantage of. It is important to help others and can be easier just to do the chore yourself; however, the world is not a fair and nice place. People take advantage of others and will take any opportunity to get out of doing more work. This may seem to be a pessimistic view but I believe it's more realistic than believing everyone is a kind person. If given the opportunity, more often than not, people will choose the easy way out especially if you’re offering an out for them. Also, if you give someone an inch they take a mile. You let them get away with not doing work enough times that they will expect it from you.
Chapter 41 - Avoid Weatherproofing
Unfortunately I think I weatherproof to a certain extent. I don’t necessarily search for issues that are wrong, however, I do try to influence a person to change certain habits if I don’t like them. This makes me sound like a horrible person. An example of this is Ewan’s unorganization. When we first started dating I didn’t know about his unorganization and bad habits. However, spending more time with him and learning more about him I see more and more unorganization and such. Every day I try to get him to be a more organized and put together person but it never seems to work. I know I shouldn’t do this but I also think he could make his life easier by becoming more organized. In that same respect, it's not my life and I should like him for just who he is whether he's the most organized person or can’t keep track of a single thing. This is a lot of self reflection right now.
Chapter 42 - Spend a Moment, Every Day, Thinking of Someone to Love
I choose to send love to my sister. She’s really stressed out and confused as of recently due to having a full time job, taking a full time software programming class, and dealing with all the craziness of our family. She also just got rejected from a job and I hope she is able to bounce back from it. She really needs the love right now. She has been supportive and loving throughout my life even if she has posed many challenges. I love her and I hope the best for you.
Chapter 43 - Become an Anthropologist
I agree with this statement and I really want to get into the habit of this. I don’t judge out loud however I do judge in my head and that isn’t any better. Judging is an energy taker and is honestly so exhausting by the end of the day. It’s bad energy coming into and bad energy that’s being released. I believe judging others is one of the worst things to do simply because judgment breeds so many other evils.
Chapter 44 - Understand Separate Realities
Small differences are so important in a world that demands for the same societal requirements. Small differences are what make each person unique and have their own personality. It’s beyond important to respect not only individual differences but also cultural differences, it's what makes life fun. Variety is the spice of life and as humans we need to remember that. No one is like another and no one should be like another person
Chapter 45 - Develop Your Own Helping Rituals
What are some ways that you can help the spread of kindness toward others?
Many people these days struggle with low self confidence, anxiety, and overall don’t love themselves enough. I believe giving compliments is a huge way to spread kindness towards others. It costs nothing to say something nice and it can really brighten someone’s day. I know when I get a compliment I think about it for the rest of the day. Even if you think someone has heard enough compliments, it never hurts to give one more. This also can inspire others to give compliments throughout the day, a ripple effect
Many people these days struggle with low self confidence, anxiety, and overall don’t love themselves enough. I believe giving compliments is a huge way to spread kindness towards others. It costs nothing to say something nice and it can really brighten someone’s day. I know when I get a compliment I think about it for the rest of the day. Even if you think someone has heard enough compliments, it never hurts to give one more. This also can inspire others to give compliments throughout the day, a ripple effect
Chapter 46 - Every day, Tell at Least One Person Something Your Like, Admire or Appreciate about Them
Give someone a compliment via text message or DM. Who did you choose and how did it make you feel to support another person?
I don’t appreciate my sister enough. She was the person I texted and it feels comforting knowing that I expressed my gratitude towards her. My sister has been through a lot and she still supports me everyday and is the first to jump and help whenever anything goes wrong. Being able to be that same support for her makes me feel like a better person and I need to tell my sister more often how much I appreciate her.
I don’t appreciate my sister enough. She was the person I texted and it feels comforting knowing that I expressed my gratitude towards her. My sister has been through a lot and she still supports me everyday and is the first to jump and help whenever anything goes wrong. Being able to be that same support for her makes me feel like a better person and I need to tell my sister more often how much I appreciate her.
Chapter 47 - Argue for Your Limitations, and They’re Yours
Discuss a time when you had self doubt and set limitations on yourself. How did you or how can you change this behavior?
I am not a strong student in math. I have discovered I’m even worse in AP Statistics. The lesson we are currently learning is not clicking in my brain. I always walk into the class thinking I’m not going to understand what’s going on and therefore I’m going to fail the test. I’m hoping to change this behavior by paying closer attention in AP Stats and doing extra work outside of class to ensure I understand the subject. It’s hard to be motivated in this class when I don’t really understand what’s going on and I can’t do the homework problems
I am not a strong student in math. I have discovered I’m even worse in AP Statistics. The lesson we are currently learning is not clicking in my brain. I always walk into the class thinking I’m not going to understand what’s going on and therefore I’m going to fail the test. I’m hoping to change this behavior by paying closer attention in AP Stats and doing extra work outside of class to ensure I understand the subject. It’s hard to be motivated in this class when I don’t really understand what’s going on and I can’t do the homework problems