Personal Reflection

Reflection;

When asked the question “What do you believe in?”, many people may list off religious views, such as core elements of their faith, others may tell you their political convictions, for some it may be living life to the fullest or a belief in karma. I do not have strong religious or political convictions, and although I do believe in living life to the fullest and I do believe in karma, I wouldn’t say that those principles are my core beliefs. I believe in people and furthermore I believe in their good nature.

I realize that I am certainly not a perfect person, and that I, like all human beings, have made mistakes during my life. I may not have perfect grades, I may have a few regrets, and I’m not always the best at what I do, but I have come to accept that the mistakes I’ve made and the flaws I have, make me the person that I am, and I’m comfortable with that, because I know that although I may not be perfect, I am an honest and good-hearted person, who in the end sticks to their morals. This is why I believe in people, and the fact that deep down in everyone, no matter who they are, or the mistakes they’ve made, there is a good person.

I realize within the past year I have matured a lot, and I have realized who I am as a person, because of this I have become a much better person. I constantly find myself putting the needs of others before my own, because not only does it make that other person happy, it gives me happiness knowing I made someone else happy. “In Giving I Connect with Others” by Isabel Allende, she said in reference to her family, “Loving them is my joy”. I also have become a much more honest person not only with others, but with myself. I find myself making an honest effort to tell the truth, rather than lie. Even if telling the truth is harder. I find myself working to my full potential at my job, because it makes me feel as though I have done an honest job, because I have done my work to the best of my ability, which is a comforting thought at the end of the day, and gives me peace of mind when I go to sleep at night. As Sarah Adams said in “Be Cool to the Pizza Dude”, “My measurement as a human being, my worth, is the pride I take in performing my job-any job” and “Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in honor, and it reminds me to honor honest work…these dudes sleep the sleep of the just.”

I find myself trying hard to improve myself, not so much because I was a bad person to begin with and needed to turn my life around, but I realize it is an act of maturity and growing up, and once I began to mature I began taking more pride in who I am as a person, which is why I am constantly trying to be the best person I can be, and have begun making improvements on my character as previously stated. These small improvements have made me realize I should take pride in whatever I do, because if I respect myself as a person others will respect me. And part of my philosophy is believing in the fact that you get what you give, I know I previously stated that karma is not one of my core beliefs, but I do believe in karma, and although I am not a very religious person, I do believe in the fact that there is a higher power-I just do not know what that power is yet. But because of my belief in karma, I make a point to be the best person I can be to others, because not only does it give me joy and peace of mind knowing that I have made an honest effort, but I feel as though I get it back, in some way or form, and even though I may not be able to realize that at times, I am optimistic in the fact that in the cycle of karma, I may have actually been a lot luckier than I know.

You may be reading this and saying to yourself, ‘I thought this essay was about belief in other people?’, well it is, my point is that if I, a person riddled with flaws, has a firm belief in their own morals, and is trying to be the best person that they can be, then other people are probably also trying to be the best they can be. I also realize that I am still young and have a lot more life to live, and many more things to experience, therefore I have a lot more maturing to do, but I realize that many people have already matured enough to realize everything that I have realized. I understand that this is certainly not a great essay, but I honestly do believe that this was one of the hardest assignments I’ve ever had, because to sit down and try to put your personal convictions and beliefs into words is almost impossible, because for many our beliefs aren’t something we sit down and write about, rather they are something we carry with us everywhere we go.