Reflection Journal
Looking back at my experiences from childhood up to now, I can say that I lived a colorful life. It’s been a really amazing journey. I have met so many people, I have been to different places, I have seen the world in different perspectives. The experiences, the joy, the laughter, the love, the pain and the sorrow that I experienced in life have shaped what I am today.
As I read the book ‘I Never Knew I Had A Choice: Explorations in Personal Growth’ by Gerald Corey and Marianne Corey, I began to understand myself more. I started to open my mind and to see how I have lived my life so far. I started to see how many different factors have shaped my personality and how my experiences and choices determine what I will become in the future.
So now, I see myself at the crossroads, with so many choices and so many opportunities in front of me. Now more than ever, I need to be responsible and to take charge of my life. I need to strive, to grow, and to develop. I need to embrace my whole being as it is. However, I must not stop at accepting myself; I must aim for the best that I can be. I must aspire for self-development.
This paper serves as my reflection journal. In this paper, I will reflect on my life and experiences. My journey to a better me starts here. I will look at my life in a new perspective. I will apply the knowledge that I gained from the class and from the book in this reflection journal.
One of the topics that really got me interested choices and change (pp. 4-7). For me that chapter is so empowering. I learned that everyone has a choice and that everyone can change his or her life. That topic encouraged me to examine my life and to reflect on my life experiences. Personal change starts with self reflection. From the book I learned that for change to occur, I must first become aware of what I am and what I want to be. Positive change can be achieved if I learn to accept my self, and love and respect the person that I am. I must be able to objectively see my strengths and weaknesses. I must explore every areas of life and be able to set my goals, to make positive choices and be responsible for the outcome. The most powerful word that I learned in this chapter is ‘self-awareness’. For me this is a powerful word because successful change starts with self-awareness. One must have a clear and accurate picture of himself before he sets goals and objectives in life.
I also have doubts and fears. Sometimes I am afraid to take risks. Sometimes I do not want to change my life. Sometimes, I also find it hard to accept my self, my situation and some of my personal characteristics. But I always tell myself that it is my responsibility to myself, to God and to the people that I love to be a better person. I am aware, that there are things and circumstances that I cannot control. Now I am beginning to accept my self and realize that even though there are things that I cannot change about myself, I have a choice on how to live my life. Therefore, I have taken the serenity prayer to heart:
God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference (p.5).
One of the enlightening topics in the book is Personal Growth (pp. 7-21). I learned that growth is a lifelong process, it never ceases. People sometimes tell me that I have achieved many things in my life. My friends say that I am intelligent and talented. I am really so thankful to God because He has endowed me with many talents and gifts. And as a good servant it is my duty to enrich the talents and gifts that He has given me. No matter how far I have gone in my life, my journey to personal growth is not yet finish. I still have so many things to learn. I still need to develop my skills and talents. I still need to change in so many areas of my life. I need to strive for self-actualization. Striving for self actualization according to the book is working toward fulfilling my potential, toward becoming what I am capable of becoming. I learned that self-actualizing people demonstrate the following:
- Self-awareness (p. 13)
- Freedom (p. 14)
- Basic honesty and caring (p. 15)
- Trust and Autonomy (p. 15)
Now that I am opening a new chapter of life – adulthood, I need to become more matured. I need to leave my fears and my doubts behind and start to decide for myself and be responsible for the outcomes. While discovering and developing my real self I must also become interdependent with other people. Being matured and being interdependent are two different but related things. A person that is complete and actively functioning in the society is both matured and interdependent. Being matured is being responsible for the consequences of our choices. Being interdependent is being able to form meaningful connections with people different from us in gender, class, race and culture. Maturity requires the ability to empathize, communicate, collaborate, connect, trust, and respect others.
The topic that for me was critical was about Early Learning and Decisions (pp. 75-78). Chapter three revealed so much about how as children, we are affected by the most important social group in our life- our family. The topic focused on the roles of parents in shaping their children and how long lasting their influence on their children is. During my childhood, our family lived comfortably. I enjoy so many things and my parents were both supportive of my studies and my hobbies. They were the ones who really encouraged me to do well in school and to enrich my talents. I can say that both my parents are achievers. They both work and they are successful. I was brought up well; my parents taught me so many things about life. I learned from their example and followed their teachings. However, like typical families we had our ups and downs. He had our fair share of problems and struggles. Nevertheless, I consider myself lucky because of our social and economic status. Because of my parents, I had access to so many things that other people cannot have. My parents taught me to value education above all. They were the ones who pushed me to do my best. And so they played an important role in my early learning and decisions.
As a young individual who is entering adulthood, I find the Stages of Adulthood (pp. 87-97) very interesting. I am now in the emerging adulthood period of my life. This period is both exciting and at the same time overwhelming. Exciting because there are different opportunities and life directions. It is also overwhelming because, from now on, I need to be more careful and more responsible. I need to development my personality and become my own person – unique. According to the book, during emerging adulthood, young people examine life’s choices regarding love, work, and worldview.
As an emerging adult, I need to set new goals and objectives in life. And I need to prepare myself, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to achieve those goals and objectives. Now I need to be more focused and more determined. Now I need to start to give back to my parents and to the society. In a few years, I will become an adult. I want to be an active member of the society – to be able to contribute to the community and be able to touch other people’s lives.
My reflection journal focuses on my current life and my transition from teen to a young adult. I know that there are many things ahead of me. For now, I focus my attention to the near future. I am looking back at my life and picking up all the things that I learned from the people who touched my life, from all the experiences, from every success and every downfall, from all the places I have been. Now, I am in a phase of my life, when I need to make my own choice. I am now ready change and to lead my own life.
Reference
Corey, G. and Corey, M. (2006). I Never Knew I Had a Choice: Explorations in Personal Growth. (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment