post 11

I thought it was rather interesting that Chapter 11 started off talking about shyness (Corey and Corey 2010).  Before reading, I never really thought that shyness can actually prevent someone from reaching their full potential in life.  After reading, I was truly convinced that it can be a serious problem for some people.  Before I took the “Take Time to Reflect” on page 321, I was wondering if shyness ever prevented me from obtaining something that I really wanted in life.  My results showed that I am not at all shy to slightly shy.  I would consider myself to be slightly shy in certain situations, especially when I am around people that I do not really know that well.  Even though I believe this is somewhat normal, I vowed to never let my shyness hold me back in life and prevent me from obtaining my goals. 

The next section of loneliness did not really make a huge impact on me.  I would not consider myself to be a lonely person.  I am a very outgoing person, and I always try to surround myself with my family and friends.  However, I understand that everyone needs some ‘alone time.’  Every day I try to spend some time to reflect on what I did that day and how I can try and do it better tomorrow.  I believe that this has been very important for me and my process of personal growth.  The idea of having sometime of solitude is something that I strongly agree with.  As of lately I try to do activities that removes me from the hustle and bustle of life.  The things that really enjoy that help me ‘escape’ are personal fitness activities that include weight training and cardio.  When I do these things, I can reflect on what I have done and what I am about to do in life.  I started really kicking it into gear when I experienced a short spell of loneliness about two months ago when I was going through a breakup.  The way that I view it is that the end of something is the beginning of something new, so it didn’t take me too long to snap out of that loneliness and start living my life to the fullest. 

The last topic of forgiveness is something that I believe really applies to me.  In the article, I actually agreed with a lot of the points that were discussed on the importance of forgiveness and how it is important in the successful maintenance of relationships (Hodgson and Wertheim 2007).  I thought it was interesting that the ability to manage and repair emotions predicted a greater disposition to forgive others.  I like to view myself as a very forgiving person.  As a teacher, I believe that you need to be.  When dealing with teenagers, you need to understand that some days students will not be on their best behavior.  You never want to hold a grudge against a student on something that they did in the past.  The way I view this topic is to forgive but don’t forget.  You can forgive people for doing you wrong, but don’t forget what happened, because it might come back to bite you later down the road if you are not careful.

Corey, G. & Corey, M. S. (2010). In Brooks/Cole (9th edition), I Never Knew I Had a Choice. Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning.

 

Hodgson, L.K., & Wertheim, E.L. (2007). Does good emotion management aid forgiving? Multiple dimensions of empathy, emotion management and forgiveness of self and others. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 24; 931-949.