Self-Love & Care

                      

Self-love and Self-care in my opinion is one of the most difficult things to prioritize because we are creatures of habits of helping our friends first before ourselves. As much as you want to be there for others, it is important to prioritize your health and learn to give the same energy you give to others to yourself. The friends you meet that truly care will be very understanding if you take time to focus on yourself and thrive to be the best version of yourself.  It’s also difficult to prioritize yourself considering we are constantly working without taking any breaks which can lead to a potential burnout. Once we feel burnt out we have no motivation or energy to do anything. It's okay to feel burnt out because it happens to all of us. However, take a short break to do stuff you enjoy and are passionate about. 

I struggled with self love and self care the most because my natural caring instincts of  wanting to be there for others before myself. I wanted to show my friends and family can rely on me for support and help. It definitely took a toll on my mindset because I couldn't sleep well and started to have bad eating habits but it was worth it. Eventually I started to learn to care/love myself more because if I don’t take care of myself how will I take care of others. I learned to balance my caring personality and my health which made me a lot happier. It allowed me to do stuff I held off for a long time. 

In conclusion, no matter how much time and effort you put into your work, be sure to take breaks and spend time with your family, friends, and do stuff you enjoy without any distractions. Once you learn to love yourself and take care of yourself you will be in a healthy mindset and happier. It’s a long adventure of learning to self-love and self-care but it will show how much you have matured and grown. Be patient with yourself and others. 

“We have one life to enjoy the things we have and experience the world so take care of your mental health and focus on you because there is only one you in this world.” 

Safe place

       

A safe place is where you can be yourself without any judgment, being stress-free from everything that is going on in your life, and a spot you can go when you’re having a rough day. Your safe place can be anything you want it to be as long as you are comfortable and happy. For instance, your safe place can be hanging out with friends or playing games with them for a certain amount of hours, going to the gym, and lastly your room where no one can bother you. Music is one of the best safe places for many individuals because of how therapeutic it can be. You can develop many friendships through music because of the same interest/taste of bands/genres. You can also meet many amazing singers/artists by listening to their music that you can share with your friends or family. 

My safe place is hanging out with friends either online or in person because the quality time we get to spent together means a lot to me and makes me happy. Ever since I started bowling with my cousins it sparked my interest that led me to bowl more consistently. Bowling allowed me to stay active, spend quality time with my friends and family, and destress. 

Writing has definitely been one of my safe places during my free time because I’m able to express my thoughts in a form of poetry or creative writing. It makes me happy to be able to share what I wrote with the world and having the readers relate to my piece of writing. I wouldn’t have done it without the constant push of my friends that believed in me because I used to only show my writings to selective people. One of my friends told me to share my writings since it was so good to not be shown. Eventually, I gained the courage to post it on social media and I received so much feedback about how I should post more. My goal is to make everyone that believed in my writing proud by continuing to write and share it with the world. 

In conclusion, when you find a safe place where it feels like home cherish that place because it will lead you to meet amazing people that make you constantly laugh and smile. A place where you can joke around with each other without getting upset or angry is worth being in and making your life so much enjoyable. A place you can be comfortable being yourself and good vibes all around. 

“There is always one safe place for everyone and when you find it cherish that place no matter what” 

Willpower

                                     

Willpower in my definition is never giving up on your goals and dreams and sticking it to the end. The amount of effort and dedication you put into anything will show and the hard work will pay off. A good mindset and mentality play a huge role in willpower because having a good mentality helps you stay focused on what you want to accomplish in your life. A good mindset also helps you be open to any obstacle that goes your way. It’s easy for your mindset to shatter if you let the negative thoughts get to you. Therefore leading you to give up or think you aren’t able to complete your current goal. One tip to avoid your mindset going negative is to take one task at a time so you don’t feel burnt out doing everything at once. For example, if an individual does everything at once they feel overwhelmed with the amount of work which can lead to unwanted stress and anxiety. Despite this individual putting so much work on their shoulders, it’s doable because the work can be completed through perseverance and patience.

    Patience represents a crucial role in willpower because an individual must be patient. After all, success doesn’t come flying through the door. Success takes time to reach your final destination because many obstacles along the way will be a roadblock. An individual that has patience has strong willpower because they are capable of waiting to become successful compared to an individual that lacks patience and demands everything to come right away and not put any work in. For example, an individual works out consistently at a gym or home but doesn’t see any progress so this individual gets impatient. This individual asked himself/herself “why do I not see any progress when I have worked out every single day.” This indicates that this individual doesn’t know that it takes time for progress to be shown. A lesson absorbed from this is working out is a grinding process and not something that is done quickly so this individual must work hard and be patient.  

An individual that worked a job for so many years that made them feel burnt out or unappreciated and thought about quitting but didn’t have strong willpower because they were able to persevere through the rough patches and be extremely patient. It’s definitely hard to keep working at a job that makes you feel angry, unappreciated, and burnt out, but we kept going because of the goals that we want to achieve. It’s these goals that keep you going and motivated to preserve through the suffering since at the end of the road your hard work will truly pay off tenfold. 

To sum up the points stated above it doesn’t matter if you have weak or strong willpower because at the end of the day you tried your best to accomplish what you want to do despite all the setbacks you encountered. It’s the friends you meet that make the journey worth it because they motivate you, reassure you, and push you to your limits. Although your willpower to preserve through it all made it all possible. It’s important to have a good mindset and patience because you are open to change, making mistakes, and learning that everything in this world takes time. 

“Never let other people’s success affect your success because your time will come too so don’t let their success get to your head.” 

Good character

                   Good Character & Implications of a Good Character

                        Written by Peter Nguyen

My thought of a good character is knowing from right to wrong and owning up to your mistakes without backing out or involving others that will make the situation worse. It’s important to get feedback for any situation you don’t understand well. When you make the final decision on any situation, be sure to make the decision with a clear mind and be considerate of the other person’s feelings. A good character learns from their mistakes and tries to be a better version of themselves. A good character must go through their own set of struggles and pain because we learn from them and our experiences will guide others and validate how they feel. 

A good character in my definition is by having proper etiquette and common sense when out in public. A good character is also defined by being kind to others even though they aren’t kind to you, supportive to your friends and family, and lastly being patient. Patience is extremely important for a good character because good things will come and worth the wait. A good character that is capable of controlling their emotions in a heated environment shows maturity because it’s quite difficult to suppress your emotions in an environment that makes you want to burst into anger. For example, an individual got into an argument with another person that says things that made you upset or angry. Although, you don’t want to escalate the argument despite your emotions being hurt by this person. A good character is about being the bigger person and setting your ego aside in any heated situation even if the individual is wrong or right. 

I believe one problem of a good character is that they don’t leave room for themselves to reflect on their own because of the obstacles in their lives that make it impossible to move on. Another problem of a good character is having a caring personality because it makes it difficult to do things you want without worrying, checking in on others, and fear of being forgotten. Overthinking makes it hard for an individual to follow through with their ideas and it would take longer for them to finish.  

In conclusion, a good character should know from right to wrong and put their ego aside in any heated situation even if they are right or wrong. A good character should also know their worth and limitations without worrying about others and how others perceive them. A good character should be genuine and willing to help others of their own free will without forcing yourself to help.


“Never let others change how you are because being kind and humble will get you far in life.”