Essay On The Things I Carry

I carry kindness. I’ve gotten my kindness from my sister, Rebecca. Kindness is a big part of me. I try to be kind even when I’m not feeling so great. If I’m feeling like Eeyore, I try to be kind to others around me.

Anxiety happens to everyone, at some point in time. In fact, a little anxiety can actually be good for you. It can help you respond appropriately to danger, and it can motivate you to excel at work and home. (www.mayoclinic.com) However, when anxiety becomes so strong that it affects your daily

Anxiety is defined as the body’s natural response to danger, an automatic alarm that goes off when you feel threatened, under pressure, or are facing a stressful situation. A little bit of anxiety can actually help a person stay attentive and on track. If we did not feel a certain level of pressure at a job or school, then perhaps we wouldn’t care about it as much. We might slack or leave a few loose ends that may cause us to fall behind. A little bit is actually beneficial, but unfortunately there are people who have to deal with anxiety as part of a mental illness or disorder. There are different types of anxiety which include: general anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and social phobia.

Everyone experiences some form of anxiety within their life. Anxiety is highly individualized; meaning that each person who experiences

Peg O’ Conner offers evidence in her article by stating some of the common, daily mistakes people do. She claims that rejecting this anxiety is also rejecting our humanity and says that this ‘anxiety’ is part of who humans are (Conner). Conner does actively prove her point, but she requires logos to show her ethos. Much of the article is full of pathos, but Conner needs to include more logos to evaluate a stronger argument. Conner needs more proven statistics from different studies. She needs to have evidence from various sources to show that anxiety does, in fact, exist in everyone. Conner’s arguments are somewhat valid. She needs to include more logic in her article to make it more reliable. She does; however, offer some valid and credible points by providing what most-if not all- readers experience

Like in the book, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, the thing I carry are “largely determined by necessity” (2). Just like in the book, there are very few things that I carry that just because I want to. Most things I carry are things I have to carry because of school or my life. I carry a lot of things with me in my everyday life that are both physical and emotional. Some of these things include my driver’s license, my stress because of school and from planning for college, and the memory of losing my grandpa Glenn.

“The Things They Carried” provides a personal view into the minds of soldiers, and tells us the emotional and psychological costs of war. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is stationed in Vietnam in the middle of the war. He seems to be a man in love, or more like a man in love with the idea of a lady named Martha. He ends up changing from a love struck, blind man into a firm, leading soldier. In this story, the characters do the things they do because of desires and motivations.

Anxiety is experienced by most people on a daily basis. Many times, anxiety can prevent people from accomplishing amazing tasks in their life. In some cases, people who avoid the anxiety end up experiencing some sort of sadness. In a short essay, called “Anxiety: Challenge by Another Name” by James Lincoln Collier, the author explains what causes these anxieties, and how to overcome them.

Anxiety is a disorder many people are quick to self-diagnose. While anxiety is a very serious disorder, I believe it is important to educate and seek professional advice before assuming you are someone who suffers from this disorder. I chose the article by Alexander M. Penney, Dwight Mazmanian, & Caitlin Rudanycz because I was that person I previously mentioned. I suffered for years from what I assumed was severe anxiety and it wasn’t until I sought professional help that I was finally able to understand and better control the situation at hand.

I carry my backpack given to me as a present for my quinceañera by my sisters boyfriend. In my backpack I carry the keys to my success. Little things such as an agenda to write down my homework and other important days. I also carry my pencil case. My pencil case contains an eraser to erase my bad habits and a pencil to write better ones. I carry my binder given to me by my mother to me it symbolizes to keep going for me and my parents.It also resembles to me that I have to take advantage of the education I am given that my parents could never have. I carry a load of hope and fear. I fear for my parents that they don't get deported and hold hope that this year they will get their legal documents. In my hand I always have

In a literal, physical sense, I carry headphones, chap stick and my house keys with me everywhere I go. The clothes I wear, my wallet, all of my receipts that I keep for unknown reasons and my AP English homework are other things among the list. I carry the bags under my eyes, which have varying weights depending on the day. For good luck I carry a picture of my oldest brother and I at my second birthday party with me. I carry my old and dirty grey converse as well as a bright orange shirt for P.E. I carry myself, above everything else.

Like most my age, I am always equipped with a smart phone. Many would deem it necessary now a days. Some people get them as young as 10 years old. I only carry one per my parent's request. Not to say that I don’t enjoy the perks of having it with me: access to any answer for any question that might be asked, the capability to talk to my family and friends at any given moment throughout the day, and plenty of applications to screw around with if I find myself with extra time. It weighs almost nothing, so light that at any given moment I will panic because I worry I lost it. It holds a different kind of weight though. It is heavy in the moments that it is “lost”, when there is a fear that it is not with me anymore, and my parents will have to pay for a new one. It is heavy because there is a strong guilt that comes with losing something so expensive. The same terror comes when the phone is dropped. There may be a case around it, a thing meant to protect the device from the impact, but there is still some anxiety around it plummeting to the ground.

Famous philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard states, “Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.” Anxiety has removed people from their full potential emotionally, mentally, and physically. The year anxiety started to remove me was freshman year during volleyball season. I didn’t look forward to practice or games. Unfailingly hearing, “get on the line,” after every single slight mistake in the butterfly drill. Being in shape for cross country because we constantly had to run instead of actually doing fundamental drills. Then came Sophomore year, I asked my mom every night if I had to go to school the next day because I dreaded it so much. I had no motivation to study, spend time with friends or family, and I was consistently going through the motions. Depression, anxiety, and fear had taken over my life and was testing my faith to its limits.

Many people feel apprehensive and miserable every now and then, but when does it take over their whole lives? Losing a loved one, doing poorly in school or work, being bullied and other hardships might lead a person to feel sad, lonely, scared, nervous and/or anxious. Some people experience this on an everyday basis, sometimes even or no reason at all. Those people might have an anxiety disorder, depression, or both. It is highly likely for someone with an anxiety disorder to also be suffering from depression, or the other way around. 50% of those diagnosed with depression are also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

My cell phone is my best friend, like a tiny mom reminding me and organizing everything for me. I have my whole life on this phone, which is good in a way but also very bad. Losing this phone unfortunately would mean losing every single phone number of everyone I know. Literally without my phone to most everyone I know It would be like I didn’t even exist. My overrated house phone has been oddly tossed away in my closet and my iPhone is now my new best friend. Without it I wouldn’t be able to contact my family and friends, see how they are doing, hear their voices from a far. I wouldn’t be able to text my friend and tell her I’m seriously only 10 minutes away when really I’m about 30 minutes. It’s great to get in contact with people you can't see every day but there is also a down side to this. Don’t get my wrong i love people checking in on me seeing if I’m okay but it also annoys me when I’m in the middle of class and I can feel the buzzing of my phone, not being able to turn my phone volume on without someone blowing it up and either calling or texting every 5 seconds it is just annoying, it’s too much of a distraction.