Well Being Responses

Ashley de la Vega

I truly feel as though I am at a point in my life where my well being is flourishing. I have faced a lot and it has made me who I am today. I am a very private person, as I care not to share many of my personal experiences that I have found to be painful or hard- I'd rather remember them enough to appreciate where I am today and forget them just a little too ensure my sanity. Nonetheless, I feel that I am at a place in my life where I am happy and very content with myself as I person. I am comfortable in my own skin, standing firm on what I believe, and the decisions I make. My experiences have taught me how to really relate, connect, and value people. With this knowledge too, I feel as though my well being is beeming as I reach out to others and really value my dear friends.

My junior year of high school I changed schools my junior year. It was hell and I was miserable. I would have to admit that my personal well being was at an all time low and definetely not flourishing. Everyday was a struggle for me to get out of bed and go to school. I missed my old friends, my old house, ( we moved), my old grocery store- it was bad. I would come home from school and cry until my mom got home. I did nothing, for the first couple of months, but focus on the negative aspects and complain about everything. In retrospect I see that the move and change in schools has made a very positive impact on my life. I made and have kept so many friends, ( a lot who now attend UNC Charlotte too) that i would have never met had I not transferred.

We as people all go through periods where are our well beings are flourishing and times when we feel like we carry no value and our personal well being is at a zero. In order to have a positive well being, we must set out each day with an open heart- ready to encounter adversity, accept change, and love like you've never been hurt.  

Response  by Brittany Bishop

In my major which is psychology we are often taught that certain memories and experiences are supressed by our mind for reasons that we might not always understand. However, it is not an unhealthy occurence and is perfectly normal. I have noticed that with age and experience, we learn to accept the things about us that we cannot change. No amount of tweaking by us can change what our maker determined us to have. They are blessing in disguise. It is seldom I find someone who truely enjoyed high school. I personaly  found high school to be a special circle of Dante's Inferno but I'm sure I'm not the only one.Whenever I feel horrible I just read this poem:

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.