Post 13

            This week’s reading really got me thinking about my life and what I believe it means to live a meaningful life. For so many years I have lived the life that I believed my parent’s wanted me to live. I felt that if I lived by their rules and ideals then that would mean that I would be living a meaningful and fulfilling life. But as I grew older and started forming my own values, opinions, and beliefs I started to realize that living life that way was not meaningful for me. My parents gave me the foundation I needed but now it was my time to decide what I would make of it. I feel that living a meaningful life means that we love as many people as we possibly can. We forgive those who have done wrong to us, but we also learn to forgive ourselves when we make mistakes. Kindness should be shown to every person even if they are not kind in return, for you never know when that little bit of kindness may change someone’s life. Lastly, I think we need to live life to the fullest so that when we die, we don’t look back on our life with regrets but merely satisfaction. If I remember this idea every day of my life then I think I will be able to live my life to the fullest and give it all the meaning I possibly can. 
            I think as we become school counselors we need to remember the journey we went through to develop our own meaning of life. The adolescents that we are going to be working with if we become high school counselors may be struggling to find their own meaning of life. They will be trying to develop their own personal identity and I think it will be key for us to foster this growth and let them know everyone has their own meaning of life. They do not need to follow their own parents' beliefs because there is not one specific way that everyone finds meaning from life. The meaning of life is as unique as each individual.

            Corey and Corey (2010) listed some agreements that we must realize when we are trying to develop a philosophy of life. These agreements I realized are something that are really tough for me. For one, I often am too timid or shy to say what I really mean or feel when I am speaking with someone. A current example would be with my future mother-in-law. She is the only kink in the chain when it comes to my wedding planning. Anything I decide to do she thinks is wrong and not a good idea. So many times I have wanted to just say to her that it is not her wedding and that I appreciate her ideas but this is the way I want my wedding to be, and I would really appreciate her support instead of contradiction with everything I decide. But every time I try to say this to her I chicken out. I am afraid she won’t like me and I take it personally when she doesn’t like my ideas. So, right in this specific situation I need to work on both number one and two. I really need to learn to not take things personally because all that is going to do make me miserable.

            In the chapter, when they were discussing white privilege I found this difficult (Corey & Corey, 2010). I personally do not look at myself as being more privileged simply because I am white, but as I was reading this happens naturally in our society. I am always surrounded by people in my race and I do not undergo stereotype threat when I am taking an exam. This section was hard for me because I feel that everyone is equal and should be treated equally and the idea that white privilege still exists makes me sad and also motivated to do something to make this change. I want to actively work towards breaking down the barriers that stereotypes create and also getting rid of stereotypes themselves.

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