Chapters Done in 2020-2021 School Year:
Chapter 1: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
Chapter 1 Question: What is one example of “small stuff” that you let get to you recently?
Chapter 2: Make Peace with Imperfection
Chapter 2 Question: How does our ‘ego’ distract you? I.e. judgement, fear, anxiety, depression, comparison, hatred, anger, and more...
Chapter 3: Let Go of the Idea that Gentle, Relaxed People Can't Be Super Achievers
Chapter 3 Question: Thoughts: “When you have what you want (inner peace), you are less distracted by your wants, needs, desires and concerns. It’s thus easier to concentrate, focus, achieve your goals, and to give back to others.
Chapter 4: Be Aware of the Snowball Effect of Your Thinking
Chapter 4 Question: Do you notice how your body and mind feel when your thinking is out of control?
Chapter 5: Develop Your Compassion
Chapter 5 Question: Can you recall a time when you made something "big" and dramatic when in reality it was "small" and not that big of a deal?
Chapter 6: Remind Yourself that When You Die, Your "In Basket" Won't Be Empty
Chapter 7: Don’t Interrupt Others or Finish Their Sentences
Chapter 7 Question: Do you believe you are a strong listener or could use some work ?
Chapter 8: Do Something Nice for Someone Else-and Don’t Tell Anyone About It
Chapter 8 Question: Recall a time that you have given, and did you expect acknowledgement?
Chapter 9: Let Others Have the Glory
Chapter 9 Question: Have you experienced someone else ‘stomping’ on your story(glory)? How did it make you feel?
Chapter 10: Learn to Live in the Present Moment
Chapter 10 Question: What are some ways that you work to stay in the present moment?
Chapter 11: Imagine that Everyone Is Enlightened Except You
Chapter 11 Question: Think of a time when you were frustrated, now look at it as a moment of being taught...what did you learn?
Chapter 12: Let Others Be “Right” Most of the Time
Chapter 12 Question: Challenge: the next time you are in a discussion/argument, let the other person be right and take notice on the initial feeling that transpires.
Chapter 13: Become More Patient
Chapter 13 Question: Do you ever have a reflective moment when you realize you are so very small in this vast world and really your ‘drama’ isn’t that big of a deal?
Chapter 14: Create “Patience Practice Periods”
Chapter 14 Question: Do you have a ‘Mantra’, a statement, that you make to yourself daily or weekly?
Chapter 15: Be the First One to Act Loving or Reach Out
Chapter 15 Question: Have you lost a relationship because something “small” created a “big” divide?
Chapter 16: Ask Yourself the Question, “Will This Matter a Year from Now?
Chapter 16 Question: What do you hope to do a year from now?
Chapter 17: Surrender to the Fact that Life Isn’t Fair
Chapter 17 Question: Is life meant to be fair? What does that even mean?
Chapter 18: Allow Yourself to be Bored
Chapter 18 Question: Do you take time to be bored?
Chapter 19: Lower Your Tolerance for Stress
Chapter 19 Questions: Have you been taught to believe high stress is a positive thing?
Chapter 20: Once a Week, Write a Heartfelt Letter
Chapter 20 Question: When is the last time you sat down and wrote a letter to someone with gratitude?
Chapter 1: Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
Chapter 1 Question: What is one example of “small stuff” that you let get to you recently?
Chapter 2: Make Peace with Imperfection
Chapter 2 Question: How does our ‘ego’ distract you? I.e. judgement, fear, anxiety, depression, comparison, hatred, anger, and more...
Chapter 3: Let Go of the Idea that Gentle, Relaxed People Can't Be Super Achievers
Chapter 3 Question: Thoughts: “When you have what you want (inner peace), you are less distracted by your wants, needs, desires and concerns. It’s thus easier to concentrate, focus, achieve your goals, and to give back to others.
Chapter 4: Be Aware of the Snowball Effect of Your Thinking
Chapter 4 Question: Do you notice how your body and mind feel when your thinking is out of control?
Chapter 5: Develop Your Compassion
Chapter 5 Question: Can you recall a time when you made something "big" and dramatic when in reality it was "small" and not that big of a deal?
Chapter 6: Remind Yourself that When You Die, Your "In Basket" Won't Be Empty
Chapter 7: Don’t Interrupt Others or Finish Their Sentences
Chapter 7 Question: Do you believe you are a strong listener or could use some work ?
Chapter 8: Do Something Nice for Someone Else-and Don’t Tell Anyone About It
Chapter 8 Question: Recall a time that you have given, and did you expect acknowledgement?
Chapter 9: Let Others Have the Glory
Chapter 9 Question: Have you experienced someone else ‘stomping’ on your story(glory)? How did it make you feel?
Chapter 10: Learn to Live in the Present Moment
Chapter 10 Question: What are some ways that you work to stay in the present moment?
Chapter 11: Imagine that Everyone Is Enlightened Except You
Chapter 11 Question: Think of a time when you were frustrated, now look at it as a moment of being taught...what did you learn?
Chapter 12: Let Others Be “Right” Most of the Time
Chapter 12 Question: Challenge: the next time you are in a discussion/argument, let the other person be right and take notice on the initial feeling that transpires.
Chapter 13: Become More Patient
Chapter 13 Question: Do you ever have a reflective moment when you realize you are so very small in this vast world and really your ‘drama’ isn’t that big of a deal?
Chapter 14: Create “Patience Practice Periods”
Chapter 14 Question: Do you have a ‘Mantra’, a statement, that you make to yourself daily or weekly?
Chapter 15: Be the First One to Act Loving or Reach Out
Chapter 15 Question: Have you lost a relationship because something “small” created a “big” divide?
Chapter 16: Ask Yourself the Question, “Will This Matter a Year from Now?
Chapter 16 Question: What do you hope to do a year from now?
Chapter 17: Surrender to the Fact that Life Isn’t Fair
Chapter 17 Question: Is life meant to be fair? What does that even mean?
Chapter 18: Allow Yourself to be Bored
Chapter 18 Question: Do you take time to be bored?
Chapter 19: Lower Your Tolerance for Stress
Chapter 19 Questions: Have you been taught to believe high stress is a positive thing?
Chapter 20: Once a Week, Write a Heartfelt Letter
Chapter 20 Question: When is the last time you sat down and wrote a letter to someone with gratitude?
Chapter 21: Imagine Yourself at your own Funeral
Question Chapter 21: If you could change anything about your life, what would it be?
If I am being completely honest, I wouldn’t change anything about my life due to the ripple effects that it has on who I would become. If there was a change, however, it would be to be way more social and do things to raise my confidence in middle school/elementary school. Now, without any effects, this would help my presenting, overall confidence, and happiness. Granted that I am happy and content now, that is beside the point, but that small change is really the only thing that I would like. To contradict me and play devil’s advocate, if I ended up doing that I would be nowhere near who I am today. I learned a lot of things being an introvert slowly turning to an extrovert from 8th grade to post quarantine. This question kind of bugs me too, because it goes against the philosophy of living in the present. What can you do about your little pity party? Nothing. So instead of wishing to change something in your life in the past take action now and actually fix it instead of living in your own fantasy.
Chapter 22: Repeat to Yourself “Life Isn’t an Emergency”
Question Chapter 22: Describe a time or moment in your life when you turn something into an emergency.
One time in my life when I turned something into an emergency instead of a moment was my grades throughout elementary and middle school. Now, being a perfectionist was awesome in itself, and it makes me the hard worker that I am. But when it came to getting one 80% on a test or a couple of 70%s on reading tests that weren’t a grade, it didn’t matter that much. I was stressing so much about them even though they mean nothing to college, post-grad, or anything else for my actual future. I cared so much about getting perfect grades that it semi-ruined me to an extent. That one book I got a 60% on for a reading comprehension that was only a flex to the other 4th graders shouldn’t have made me cry, but it did. Now, since I am in high school, grades do matter so that concept can be thrown away but it really left a negative impact on me for a while until quarantine when I figured it out.
Chapter 23: Experiment with Your Back Burner
Analyze: “It puts our quieter, softer, and sometimes most intelligent source of thinking to work for us on issues that we have no immediate answer for.”
Your back burner is one of the things that can only hurt you, never help. Especially in this day and age where you can have electronic journals, physical, and pieces of paper, there is no way we can not write down everything we need to get done. As we expressed in class, people only get anxious when they think of their back burner, so why should we even have it? Personally, when I put whatever I need on my google sheets, I forget about it. There is no reason to overthink it because it doesn’t help you. I like to tackle something one at a time, at 100% effort. After I finish, I reward myself with something I like, like YouTube, Netflix, or laying down and watching Tiktok for 5-10 minutes. You can make studying and homework doable just by incentivizing what you know you love to motivate yourself. Moving away from the homework, having multiple social/outside problems, such as hating someone or problems in a relationship, the only way you can get past it is through talking to the person or someone else, like someone you trust. If you aren’t the person to talk to others for support, like me, take an hour of meditation, dive deep into your problems, and you will most likely figure out your problems. Just like I have heard, like someone you are interested in, you can make time for them, and just like that, take time to enjoy yourself and figure out what is wrong, because it is only luggage holding you down. If you don’t make time, that is your problem, and I won’t feel bad for you.
Chapter 24: Spend a Moment Every Day Thinking of Someone to Thank
Chapter 24 Question: Who is one person you would thank in this moment and why? I challenge you to communicate this gratitude with this person.
One person that I would like to thank in this moment is Mrs. Irma, although she isn’t alive anymore. Through our interactions in a short span of 4 years, she has taught me so much in life and in death. For me, she created the word gratitude for me and truly enunciated it in my life. I appreciate life so much more because of her, I act with no regrets because of her, and I truly push myself to be the absolute and truly best person I can be day in and day out, improving myself in any manner possible, whether physically or mentally. It is crazy to think how much her death affected me emotionally, especially for where I was then at the time of her death. It was in between finishing HOCO and starting Winter Formal when her passing occurred, and even though I wasn’t that stressed out, I just broke. For the first time in 4 years, I cried, and I cried hard. This went on for a couple of days, and slowly slowed down until her funeral date, which then multiplied by 300%. Her life opened me more to my emotions for the better and truly left an impact on my heart and my life, and I am so grateful for her.
Chapter 25: Smile at Strangers, Look into Their Eyes, and Say Hello
Chapter 25 Question: When you read this chapter, regarding eye contact & connect, what are your initial thoughts?
I don’t fully agree with this chapter, yet don’t fully disagree with it. To a certain extent, eye contact, happiness, and spreading positivity is wonderful to do not only for yourself but for others. I believe that the true fine line between doing this and not doing it is circumstance. If we are waiting in line at a store, or any other sedentary action, yeah, it is perfectly fine to smile and talk to a stranger. However, if you are just passing by, it would confuse many people as to why you are doing it; it is not that they have negative intentions or the sort, but rather that they would assume you did that because you acted like you knew them. I personally wouldn’t be doing this on the daily basis because it isn’t the person I am, but if I meet a friend of a friend of someone who I sit next to, I am so open to talking to them, smiling, and getting to know them/make them a friend because it isn’t random; if I am going to be with them for a decent amount of time, why not become friends with them, even if after we aren’t super close.
Chapter 26: Set Aside Quiet Time, Every Day
Chapter 26 Question: When do you find a quiet moment in your day, everyday, just to be present and quiet? Do you? Or perhaps you don’t...explain.
The answer to this question has to be a yes and a no, because I don’t know what criteria I am fitting as a quiet time. Either way, these are the things I don’t do everyday, but most days I actually do them; before going to sleep just thinking about the day, yoga, meditation, working out at night, and laying on my bed, without my phone, and just thinking. Each one of these are self explanatory except the last one, and I’ll explain that. Whenever I have writer’s block, can’t study anymore/want to go on my phone with an urgent assignment, or am super stressed out, I put my phone on silent, lay face up with no covers on my bed and think. I use this to relax and think of possible solutions to cure my problem; the 4-5 times I have used it it was very useful and got the job done. I only really need these times to truly get something out of it; whether it be relaxation, a solution, or reduce my stress I use the quiet to hush all of the negative thoughts. Just to elaborate on another point, although I workout 2 times a day, the one in sports conditioning is very intense with loud music and the heart is pumping; although I really enjoy that and it is therapeutic, it clearly isn’t quiet. But when I workout at night, it is freezing cold out, I don’t rush my exercises, and I truly envelop myself with the darkness and freezing nature of the world. It is very relaxing to me and is a great way to unwind even though I am exercising; I also improve my mental fortitude by being in shorts and a t-shirt in freezing cold, but you get used to it.
Chapter 27: Imagine the People in Your Life as Tiny Infants & as 100 Year Old Adults
Chapter 27 Question: Describe a time when you have been frustrated with someone, but you “let-go” of the situation and moved forward with your life. How did that make you feel?
A time when I was frustrated with someone, then just let it go because it wasn’t worth it was during Honors Biology mid period. Someone was sitting behind me just asking for help, over and over, for homework (when I mean help I mean they just want the answers). I kept telling him no, again and again, and I slowly got frustrated. Then I realized that it wasn’t worth it; why should I let someone being lazy ruin my whole day. So, as a result, I just let it go and went on with my life after the period, not really affected but confused as to why he was bugging me so much when in that time he could have finished the work. People want the easy way out, and being in APs/Honors/leadership you don’t get the luxury of having practically no homework everyday and just relaxing after class everyday; we are always busy with work, studying, or activities and they just don’t get it. We always get the brunt of the complaints yet all they are doing is sitting around playing games all day with nothing better to do.
Chapter 28: Seek First to Understand
Chapter 28 Question: Describe a situation where you didn’t seek to understand first. Was there resolution with this conflict?
A situation in which I didn’t seek to understand first was when I was talking about track with one of my friends. The place where I didn’t seek to understand first was when I was talking about my shin splints and not really caring about what she said. Although we had the same problem, I put myself as the center of focus and that was really not necessary. There was no real resolution because it wasn’t a conflict but I realized through this, much like chapter 29, that we need to not put ourselves at the front of the conversation. We need to actually listen to others and not always be so self centered even when we don’t realize it. We can become better people by seeking to understand rather than manipulating whatever it may be to what your mind wants to hear.
Chapter 29: Become a Better Listener
Chapter 29 Question: Who is someone that you can genuinely talk to, that you know will listen to you.. Describe this relationship
Someone that I can genuinely talk to is April, Kylee, or Claire. These three people are some of the most caring people that I know, and they truly care about anything that you say to them. I can always gain something from talking to them, whether it be a minor problem or learning from how they interact with me or others and they are such kind hearted people. They have attributes that I lack and I really admire that from them. Besides that, I can talk to any of them whenever I want about anything serious that is going on in my life. They will always take me seriously and really care about me, which is something that I am very grateful for. Although it sounds odd, they are like parents to me (not in the weird way, my mom definitely loves me). They want the best for me and can be an outlet in the few and far times that I am frustrated or need to let something out.
Chapter 30: Choose Your Battles Wisely
Chapter 30 Question: Describe a time when you “lost your Shhhh” and in reality it wasn’t worth the energy. How did you feel after the confrontation? Could it have gone differently if you didn’t sweat the small stuff?
I really don’t think I can answer this question because as far as I can recall, I haven’t lost it ever in my life to the point where I lost control of my mind and went berserk on someone. I’ll try to answer this question to the best of my ability not through a personal example, but of the importance of actually “losing your shhh”. From what I have seen from others and the conversations that I have had, some of us really need to let go of all of the baggage by losing it. Everyone works differently in their mind and although it doesn’t personally affect me, I can definitely see how useful it can be with people’s emotions and feelings towards the things they are passionate about.
Chapter 31: Become Aware of Your Moods and Don’t Allow Yourself to Be Fooled by the Low Ones
Chapter 31 Question: Explain a time when you were in a bad mood and how it shaped your day. Vise Versa, explain a time when you were in a great mood and discuss the day you had.
A time when I was in a bad mood was when I got an 80% on my DBQ for AP World History. It really shaped my day because I know I could have done better; it isn’t like my English 2 Honors class where it is a coin flip if I get a good grade or not, but rather a great indicator of how hard I work. Perez does a great job of writing everything that you could improve on; the last DBQ that I did before this I got a 100%, yet I did worse on that one. If I really hunkered down and studied the material, looked at what I did right and how I can improve off of my last DBQ, it wouldn’t have happened. Since then, my most recent DBQ I got a 98.5% which I am happy with. A different time when I was in a great mood was when I finally got cleared from PT back in December. It was so refreshing to be able to go back to normal life and not worry about my injury was so nice, and it made my week being able to go back to normal day to day life.
Chapter 32: Life is a test. It is only a test.
Chapter 32 Question: “As an experiment, see if you can apply this idea to something you are forced to deal with” right now. Explain your emotions and logic behind this situation. Can you rise above it?
Life being a test is a very interesting concept because it really doesn’t fully grasp how life truly is. I understand and agree with the point that having a benchmark like a test to reach for is great for improvement standards, but treating each part of your life like a test creates too much pressure on ourselves and on our outlook on how successful we are. David quoted that “Life is a test but you are the one to judge yourself for your actions. If you did your best, that is all that matters.” I like this quote but it is flawed in some sense; someone can believe that they did their best understanding what 1 + 1 is, but the fact lies that if someone says it is 3 but they believed it doesn’t make it true. You are creating a false reality for yourself. To contradict that statement, however, what creates truth? Established beliefs for generations; if it is, what makes that the truth?
Chapter 33: Praise & blame are all the same
Chapter 33 Question: You will not please everyone...how does this statement sit with you and why do we tend to focus on the negative rather than the positive
Of course we will not please everyone; I don’t like some people based on my morals and standards and some people don’t like me because of those same reasons. We can’t and will never have 7+ billion people on this Earth that all love each other and will always do kind for each other; humankind is evil and the way that we act is purely of selfishness deep down and fundamentally. That is why you should be living your life based on what values you care about the most; if you are content on your deathbed and you have not harmed society too much in your lifespan, you can do whatever you want within reason. I will live my life and you will live yours, so don’t be offended if either of us don’t like each other.
Chapter 34: Practice Random Acts of Kindness
Chapter 34 Question: Describe a time when you completed RAK and how did it make you feel?
I wouldn’t say one random act of kindness but a continuation of the acts of kindness would be through track and helping out some of the freshmen during my own time. I truly want the best for the people that deserve it in my eyes; the people that work hard and want to become better. I don’t know how I feel about doing this; I didn’t do it to feel good about myself and I didn’t do it only to help out the freshmen; it just happened to fit into what I stand for and I continued it because of that. I am happy that I do nice things to other people, but I wish people did more things in tune with their personality and didn’t do random acts of kindness just to feel better about themselves, even if no one is looking.
Question Chapter 21: If you could change anything about your life, what would it be?
If I am being completely honest, I wouldn’t change anything about my life due to the ripple effects that it has on who I would become. If there was a change, however, it would be to be way more social and do things to raise my confidence in middle school/elementary school. Now, without any effects, this would help my presenting, overall confidence, and happiness. Granted that I am happy and content now, that is beside the point, but that small change is really the only thing that I would like. To contradict me and play devil’s advocate, if I ended up doing that I would be nowhere near who I am today. I learned a lot of things being an introvert slowly turning to an extrovert from 8th grade to post quarantine. This question kind of bugs me too, because it goes against the philosophy of living in the present. What can you do about your little pity party? Nothing. So instead of wishing to change something in your life in the past take action now and actually fix it instead of living in your own fantasy.
Chapter 22: Repeat to Yourself “Life Isn’t an Emergency”
Question Chapter 22: Describe a time or moment in your life when you turn something into an emergency.
One time in my life when I turned something into an emergency instead of a moment was my grades throughout elementary and middle school. Now, being a perfectionist was awesome in itself, and it makes me the hard worker that I am. But when it came to getting one 80% on a test or a couple of 70%s on reading tests that weren’t a grade, it didn’t matter that much. I was stressing so much about them even though they mean nothing to college, post-grad, or anything else for my actual future. I cared so much about getting perfect grades that it semi-ruined me to an extent. That one book I got a 60% on for a reading comprehension that was only a flex to the other 4th graders shouldn’t have made me cry, but it did. Now, since I am in high school, grades do matter so that concept can be thrown away but it really left a negative impact on me for a while until quarantine when I figured it out.
Chapter 23: Experiment with Your Back Burner
Analyze: “It puts our quieter, softer, and sometimes most intelligent source of thinking to work for us on issues that we have no immediate answer for.”
Your back burner is one of the things that can only hurt you, never help. Especially in this day and age where you can have electronic journals, physical, and pieces of paper, there is no way we can not write down everything we need to get done. As we expressed in class, people only get anxious when they think of their back burner, so why should we even have it? Personally, when I put whatever I need on my google sheets, I forget about it. There is no reason to overthink it because it doesn’t help you. I like to tackle something one at a time, at 100% effort. After I finish, I reward myself with something I like, like YouTube, Netflix, or laying down and watching Tiktok for 5-10 minutes. You can make studying and homework doable just by incentivizing what you know you love to motivate yourself. Moving away from the homework, having multiple social/outside problems, such as hating someone or problems in a relationship, the only way you can get past it is through talking to the person or someone else, like someone you trust. If you aren’t the person to talk to others for support, like me, take an hour of meditation, dive deep into your problems, and you will most likely figure out your problems. Just like I have heard, like someone you are interested in, you can make time for them, and just like that, take time to enjoy yourself and figure out what is wrong, because it is only luggage holding you down. If you don’t make time, that is your problem, and I won’t feel bad for you.
Chapter 24: Spend a Moment Every Day Thinking of Someone to Thank
Chapter 24 Question: Who is one person you would thank in this moment and why? I challenge you to communicate this gratitude with this person.
One person that I would like to thank in this moment is Mrs. Irma, although she isn’t alive anymore. Through our interactions in a short span of 4 years, she has taught me so much in life and in death. For me, she created the word gratitude for me and truly enunciated it in my life. I appreciate life so much more because of her, I act with no regrets because of her, and I truly push myself to be the absolute and truly best person I can be day in and day out, improving myself in any manner possible, whether physically or mentally. It is crazy to think how much her death affected me emotionally, especially for where I was then at the time of her death. It was in between finishing HOCO and starting Winter Formal when her passing occurred, and even though I wasn’t that stressed out, I just broke. For the first time in 4 years, I cried, and I cried hard. This went on for a couple of days, and slowly slowed down until her funeral date, which then multiplied by 300%. Her life opened me more to my emotions for the better and truly left an impact on my heart and my life, and I am so grateful for her.
Chapter 25: Smile at Strangers, Look into Their Eyes, and Say Hello
Chapter 25 Question: When you read this chapter, regarding eye contact & connect, what are your initial thoughts?
I don’t fully agree with this chapter, yet don’t fully disagree with it. To a certain extent, eye contact, happiness, and spreading positivity is wonderful to do not only for yourself but for others. I believe that the true fine line between doing this and not doing it is circumstance. If we are waiting in line at a store, or any other sedentary action, yeah, it is perfectly fine to smile and talk to a stranger. However, if you are just passing by, it would confuse many people as to why you are doing it; it is not that they have negative intentions or the sort, but rather that they would assume you did that because you acted like you knew them. I personally wouldn’t be doing this on the daily basis because it isn’t the person I am, but if I meet a friend of a friend of someone who I sit next to, I am so open to talking to them, smiling, and getting to know them/make them a friend because it isn’t random; if I am going to be with them for a decent amount of time, why not become friends with them, even if after we aren’t super close.
Chapter 26: Set Aside Quiet Time, Every Day
Chapter 26 Question: When do you find a quiet moment in your day, everyday, just to be present and quiet? Do you? Or perhaps you don’t...explain.
The answer to this question has to be a yes and a no, because I don’t know what criteria I am fitting as a quiet time. Either way, these are the things I don’t do everyday, but most days I actually do them; before going to sleep just thinking about the day, yoga, meditation, working out at night, and laying on my bed, without my phone, and just thinking. Each one of these are self explanatory except the last one, and I’ll explain that. Whenever I have writer’s block, can’t study anymore/want to go on my phone with an urgent assignment, or am super stressed out, I put my phone on silent, lay face up with no covers on my bed and think. I use this to relax and think of possible solutions to cure my problem; the 4-5 times I have used it it was very useful and got the job done. I only really need these times to truly get something out of it; whether it be relaxation, a solution, or reduce my stress I use the quiet to hush all of the negative thoughts. Just to elaborate on another point, although I workout 2 times a day, the one in sports conditioning is very intense with loud music and the heart is pumping; although I really enjoy that and it is therapeutic, it clearly isn’t quiet. But when I workout at night, it is freezing cold out, I don’t rush my exercises, and I truly envelop myself with the darkness and freezing nature of the world. It is very relaxing to me and is a great way to unwind even though I am exercising; I also improve my mental fortitude by being in shorts and a t-shirt in freezing cold, but you get used to it.
Chapter 27: Imagine the People in Your Life as Tiny Infants & as 100 Year Old Adults
Chapter 27 Question: Describe a time when you have been frustrated with someone, but you “let-go” of the situation and moved forward with your life. How did that make you feel?
A time when I was frustrated with someone, then just let it go because it wasn’t worth it was during Honors Biology mid period. Someone was sitting behind me just asking for help, over and over, for homework (when I mean help I mean they just want the answers). I kept telling him no, again and again, and I slowly got frustrated. Then I realized that it wasn’t worth it; why should I let someone being lazy ruin my whole day. So, as a result, I just let it go and went on with my life after the period, not really affected but confused as to why he was bugging me so much when in that time he could have finished the work. People want the easy way out, and being in APs/Honors/leadership you don’t get the luxury of having practically no homework everyday and just relaxing after class everyday; we are always busy with work, studying, or activities and they just don’t get it. We always get the brunt of the complaints yet all they are doing is sitting around playing games all day with nothing better to do.
Chapter 28: Seek First to Understand
Chapter 28 Question: Describe a situation where you didn’t seek to understand first. Was there resolution with this conflict?
A situation in which I didn’t seek to understand first was when I was talking about track with one of my friends. The place where I didn’t seek to understand first was when I was talking about my shin splints and not really caring about what she said. Although we had the same problem, I put myself as the center of focus and that was really not necessary. There was no real resolution because it wasn’t a conflict but I realized through this, much like chapter 29, that we need to not put ourselves at the front of the conversation. We need to actually listen to others and not always be so self centered even when we don’t realize it. We can become better people by seeking to understand rather than manipulating whatever it may be to what your mind wants to hear.
Chapter 29: Become a Better Listener
Chapter 29 Question: Who is someone that you can genuinely talk to, that you know will listen to you.. Describe this relationship
Someone that I can genuinely talk to is April, Kylee, or Claire. These three people are some of the most caring people that I know, and they truly care about anything that you say to them. I can always gain something from talking to them, whether it be a minor problem or learning from how they interact with me or others and they are such kind hearted people. They have attributes that I lack and I really admire that from them. Besides that, I can talk to any of them whenever I want about anything serious that is going on in my life. They will always take me seriously and really care about me, which is something that I am very grateful for. Although it sounds odd, they are like parents to me (not in the weird way, my mom definitely loves me). They want the best for me and can be an outlet in the few and far times that I am frustrated or need to let something out.
Chapter 30: Choose Your Battles Wisely
Chapter 30 Question: Describe a time when you “lost your Shhhh” and in reality it wasn’t worth the energy. How did you feel after the confrontation? Could it have gone differently if you didn’t sweat the small stuff?
I really don’t think I can answer this question because as far as I can recall, I haven’t lost it ever in my life to the point where I lost control of my mind and went berserk on someone. I’ll try to answer this question to the best of my ability not through a personal example, but of the importance of actually “losing your shhh”. From what I have seen from others and the conversations that I have had, some of us really need to let go of all of the baggage by losing it. Everyone works differently in their mind and although it doesn’t personally affect me, I can definitely see how useful it can be with people’s emotions and feelings towards the things they are passionate about.
Chapter 31: Become Aware of Your Moods and Don’t Allow Yourself to Be Fooled by the Low Ones
Chapter 31 Question: Explain a time when you were in a bad mood and how it shaped your day. Vise Versa, explain a time when you were in a great mood and discuss the day you had.
A time when I was in a bad mood was when I got an 80% on my DBQ for AP World History. It really shaped my day because I know I could have done better; it isn’t like my English 2 Honors class where it is a coin flip if I get a good grade or not, but rather a great indicator of how hard I work. Perez does a great job of writing everything that you could improve on; the last DBQ that I did before this I got a 100%, yet I did worse on that one. If I really hunkered down and studied the material, looked at what I did right and how I can improve off of my last DBQ, it wouldn’t have happened. Since then, my most recent DBQ I got a 98.5% which I am happy with. A different time when I was in a great mood was when I finally got cleared from PT back in December. It was so refreshing to be able to go back to normal life and not worry about my injury was so nice, and it made my week being able to go back to normal day to day life.
Chapter 32: Life is a test. It is only a test.
Chapter 32 Question: “As an experiment, see if you can apply this idea to something you are forced to deal with” right now. Explain your emotions and logic behind this situation. Can you rise above it?
Life being a test is a very interesting concept because it really doesn’t fully grasp how life truly is. I understand and agree with the point that having a benchmark like a test to reach for is great for improvement standards, but treating each part of your life like a test creates too much pressure on ourselves and on our outlook on how successful we are. David quoted that “Life is a test but you are the one to judge yourself for your actions. If you did your best, that is all that matters.” I like this quote but it is flawed in some sense; someone can believe that they did their best understanding what 1 + 1 is, but the fact lies that if someone says it is 3 but they believed it doesn’t make it true. You are creating a false reality for yourself. To contradict that statement, however, what creates truth? Established beliefs for generations; if it is, what makes that the truth?
Chapter 33: Praise & blame are all the same
Chapter 33 Question: You will not please everyone...how does this statement sit with you and why do we tend to focus on the negative rather than the positive
Of course we will not please everyone; I don’t like some people based on my morals and standards and some people don’t like me because of those same reasons. We can’t and will never have 7+ billion people on this Earth that all love each other and will always do kind for each other; humankind is evil and the way that we act is purely of selfishness deep down and fundamentally. That is why you should be living your life based on what values you care about the most; if you are content on your deathbed and you have not harmed society too much in your lifespan, you can do whatever you want within reason. I will live my life and you will live yours, so don’t be offended if either of us don’t like each other.
Chapter 34: Practice Random Acts of Kindness
Chapter 34 Question: Describe a time when you completed RAK and how did it make you feel?
I wouldn’t say one random act of kindness but a continuation of the acts of kindness would be through track and helping out some of the freshmen during my own time. I truly want the best for the people that deserve it in my eyes; the people that work hard and want to become better. I don’t know how I feel about doing this; I didn’t do it to feel good about myself and I didn’t do it only to help out the freshmen; it just happened to fit into what I stand for and I continued it because of that. I am happy that I do nice things to other people, but I wish people did more things in tune with their personality and didn’t do random acts of kindness just to feel better about themselves, even if no one is looking.