Me, Myself and I

So, I just found out that I'm a composer or an artist in a personality test. And i'm not sure that im that type of person. Im still trying to find myself as a person. People are always trying to figure me out and it seems like they get no where. To be honest, I don't really care about who I am or how other people look at me. Im just this thing that fits everywhere but has no specific place. I like it that way though. =)

Happiness in Work

 

People always make it seem like work is such a stressful environment where you can't really have fun. It seems like everyone complains about the job that they are in because they either feel stuck, or feel like it's not where they belong. They want to do more and contribute more, but do not have the time, materials or education to do so. Most people are stuck at their jobs because they need that financial back bone to support their family. While thinking about all these things, it brings more stress and more pressure while at their job. This makes them unhappy with everything around them. It seems like a lot of pressure to hold a steady job, especially when the economy is the way that it is.

I've never really had a job before, so I wouldn't know the about the stress and frustrations while working at a job. It does however, seem like a lot to handle when you have too much on your plate. That is why I’m more focused on my school work then getting a job. I don't want to have to try and juggle everything together. It seems like it would be a whole bunch of running around, getting things together and trying to make it everywhere on time while being punctual. These things will probably help with sharpening my skills for the future and it will probably be a good learning experience to have, but for the most part, education has to come first.

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Over the years, education has had different meanings in my life. Sometimes I enjoyed the education I was getting, and sometimes I would dread the mornings of waking up for school. It seemed like the older I got, the harder school became and it seemed like a lot of pressure was building. I think that by managing stress and changing my attitude can help me become a happier student by looking at things in a positive prospective. Pressure is something that I never enjoyed, I would always get headaches and would want to stop everything that I am doing. That is why I constantly try to find ways of distracting myself while working on homework or schoolwork. Although, I noticed that if I am being entertained while learning, I stay focused and there is no need for a distraction. I can be open-minded when it comes to learning new things and trying to find what suits me.

            Math is one thing that frustrates me the most when it comes to my education. It seems like every time I go into a math class, I already assume the worst. Therefore, I already have this thing in my mind where I think, “I will always hate math and math will always hate me.” Then again, I could always be wrong and try to find ways of getting along with my enemy. “The problem, as gilbert and company have come to discover, is that we falter when it comes to imagining how we will feel about something in the future… What Gilbert has found, however, is that we overestimate the intensity and the duration of our emotional reactions -- our “affect” -- to future events.” (The Futile Pursuit of Happines 8) So maybe if I just try to push myself a little harder and try not to think about math as a form of an enemy, I can become friends with it and try not to overwhelm my thoughts.

            One thing that I can try doing while in school, is trying to reach that point of “flow.”  So that I can feel satisfied with everything that I am doing and enjoy every aspect of it. Instead of beating myself up for thinking that, it is hard work and that hard work is frustrating. “When in a state of flow we enjoy both peak experience and peak performance: we experience pleasure and perform at our best. Athletes often refer to this as being in the zone.” (Happier 86) Instead of always overwhelming myself with negative feelings about something, I should rethink and try to find the positive in that thing that I am doing. By changing my mindset about school and trying to make everything a good experience, I can enjoy the effort and the work that I put into a class, homework or anything that could be beneficial for me in the future.

            Something that I would always do the most, is distracting myself when things are getting too hard or too complicated. Especially when I am at home. There are so many distractions and sometimes I lose focus. But that is only when things get too complicated and I take breaks so that my brain does not fry. Some of the things I do are text, watch some television or simply just fall asleep because I become exhausted. Sometimes these things can help ease my stress for a short while. But then if I distract myself for too long all the work starts piling up and it becomes even more stressful then it was in the first place. So maybe trying to find out a balance where I can take breaks that are productive, instead of taking a lot time away from the things that I should be working on at home.

            While in the classroom though, it seems to be a different story. Sometimes I think it is because of the enviornment. On the other hand, maybe because everyone’s main focus is to atleast try and learn something new. I have always liked listening to people and learning new things, whether it is about them or something that can be useful or helpful towards me. I also feel that if I am having a good time while learning, then it is not so hard and it gives you a sense of calmness. “..there are two distinct ways of hurting students’ prospects of experiencing flow. First, by creating a stressful enviornment, leading to anxiety; second by creating an enviornment that is devoid of struggle and challenege, leading to boredom.” (Happiness 88) In my case, it is usually the first one. I do not know why it happens, but I am guessing it is because I cannot really handle many things at once. Taking things one-step at a time would work better for me. However, since im an expert at procrastinating, it gets difficult to prioritize and organize the things that need to be done first.

            Overall, I just need to try my hardest to stay focused and feel good while doing the things that I need to get done. Learn how to manage my time so that I do not procrastianate with the most important things. I can ease the pressure and tension by getting all the important things I need to get done out of the way early and try not to distract myself as often. Also, trying to be “in the zone” while dealing with school and hard work. While also taking the time to change the way I feel about any particular subjects that I dislike. As for math, I know that we are enemies, but who knows, maybe I will grow to love it and we can become the best of friends!

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Education is a major factor in everybody’s life. We all need it, and we depend on it to get the things that we want in the future. But does education make us happy? Or do we think of education more as a form of torture? Over all, I have mixed feelings about education in general. I think that while I was growing up, I never looked at school as a privilege, but more of a place you go to just to make friends and waste time. On the other hand, I had some great teachers that really kept me focused on what I needed to do. Being a freshman in college is a different story because I have to look out after myself and I won’t have those teachers to motivate me. I have to be self motivated and keep myself focused on the things that I need to get done.
    Although I am confused about education and the feelings I have towards it, I know that it will take me somewhere eventually. I think that the reason I was never really motivated in school was because I rarely experienced “flow.” This is where we experience something and enjoy every second of it. “Because many students experience either boredom or anxiety in school, they neither enjoy it nor perform at their best.” (88 Happiness in Education) This explains why students either get so stressed out and just quit, or get so bored and don’t even want to bother with their education in the future. In my case I pulled through to go on to college and pursue my dreams of working with animals by helping them.
    In order to get to that place where I can start a career, I need to get all the education that I need in order to succeed. But our future is never promised, according to Ken Robinson, there is an “unpredictability for the future.” So we could just be getting an education for the future for no entire reason. He also expresses how education takes away from our creativity, by schools only focusing on the “most useful subjects,” such as Math, English  and Science. Schools barely focus on the arts and the creative parts on the brain, which can overwhelm students because they are always put under stress and barley have any “flow” moments.
    My problem is just finding ways to experience “flow” while working on homework or being in class. I need to find out what makes me happy or what are the things that draw my attention while learning. I know that I like to be hands on and get into things. I enjoy reading because I think that you could learn a lot about the world by just paying attention to another persons insight and perspectives. I also like putting things together and having “aha” moments when I am satisfied with what I come up with. But it’s really difficult to find happiness in education because most of us have bad experiences and view it as a form of torture. When in reality it’s a privilege and will help benefit us in the future.