Kowloon Walled City : The Lawless City Essay

In the words of Winston Churchill, "The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." When we are optimistic that we can get a job done, or that we can find a cure for a disease, we are more motivated, and we work harder. A scientist who is pessimistic that they will never find a cure for a specific disease will have a mental mind block against finding a cure for a disease, making it considerably harder for them to find a cure. However, a scientist who is optimistic about finding a cure for a disease will be motivated and more focused on their dedication to discovering a cure for a disease such as cancer. When you are optimistic, you are more motivated, and when you are motivated, you are more productive, consequently making optimism a particularly important priority in everyday

In most situations, being optimistic is a good

The next major example of this comes from the Non-fiction book Life’s Greatest Lessons by Hal Urban, Urban explains if people grasp life is hard, and go through life with a good attitude good things will happen. In the beginning of the book in chapter two”Life Is Hard...and Not Always Fair” Urban presents people information about how life is hard, and how people are supposed to respond to the hard obstacles life throws in our way. He brings up a conversation him and one of his former students had. The student was complaining about how the homework was too hard, and Urban simply responded with “Life is Hard”. Later on he explains to the reader that he gave the students homework that would push them above and beyond. His goal of the homework was not for them to remember the specifics, but remember the main theme of the chapter, Life is Hard. According to Urban “Once we accept the fact life is hard, we begin to grow. We begin to understand that every problem is also an opportunity”(12). This quote explains how people should deal with change, and what happens when people accept it. Urban tries to show just because something blocks the way in life it still is not always terrible. If a new route is opened because of the obstacle in the way it may lead you to a new opportunity. Later on in the book in chapter five “Attitude Is a Choice- The Most Important One You’ll Ever Make” Urban

The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious

There are two kinds of people: the ones that are willing to give up after seeing the first obstacle in their way and the ones that are willing to turn the same obstacle in their favor. Any problem, may it be an obstacle or a disadvantage, can always be turned into something good if you believe you can do it. All you have to do in order to accomplish this is to see with another perspective all the good there is in any problem, no matter how hard or impossible it seems to be.

Quite often you hear that we do not grow without failure; that failure is what teaches us a new skill and how to then succeed. I was not familiar with the quote, “adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant,” by Horace, however I think this quote is true. To me, this means that when someone has some kind of disadvantage, that person can use the challenge to his advantage through self-reflection, determination, and hope. Every person faces an obstacle, usually many and of various degrees of challenge, and although you cannot control the situation, you can control your reaction. Those of us that learn from adversity take our time to figure out how to approach the problem in a new manner. We recognize that one barrier is not a reason to abandon our course. We think outside the box for how to overcome the challenge. We learn from the first failure and we regroup for the next approach. Failure teaches you how to define yourself rather than how others define you. All four of the

For many, pessimism is not ideal, and optimism is their route of choice, as it develops through the arising

come out on the upside. When faced with a challenge that seems unbearable, one must remember

1. The optimist in Sonya Tinsley’s writing are “people who admit that they don’t know how things will turn out, but have decided to work for change” (346).

The plans and narratives of the Kowloon Walled City have drastically changed through the years, as it has been an unrolled and unregulated enclave between the British and Chinese governments. It began as an officially planed Chinese military fort and afterwards witnessed three distinct stages of lawlessness, demolition and rebirth as an urban garden. It all officially began in the 16th century, when the Chinese built a defensive garrison town filled with soldiers, civil officers and their families (Carney, 2013). However, when Hong Kong was leased to the British in 1898, the Kowloon Walled City became a enclave in the colonized territory, where no laws of the official state applied and everything began expanding spontaneously. The first stage of the city’s unintentional self-organization began in the 1950’s. It is widely known as the time of three vices – gambling, prostitution and drug dealing. The official regulations of the British did work on Hong Kong and were reversely reflected in the Chinese enclave. As soon as something was forbidden in the city-state, people massively poured into the un-ruled territory and let the sins to flourish. This way the Kowloon Walled City became synonymous with violence, crime and disturbance. During this period, the city and people became one, the buildings were connected by piping systems and wires, the water poured through the holes and sunlight could barely reach the lower levels. Yet, in the early 1970’s the situation started changing

It is human nature to take the easy way when given a choice between an easy option and a difficult one. However, the easy way is not always the best way to grow and progress. Growth occurs when adversity is present, not when there is an absence of adversity and everything is easy. The Roman poet Horace observed, "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant." Horace's contention examines the role that adversity plays in the development of one’s character and understanding difficulty and suffering. It is in times of trouble, when adversities thrusts itself upon one that true character is make known. I am an optimist and believe that people are fundamentally good

There are times in this world when rolling out of bed and putting on a brave face is the only thing that seems sensible enough to get you through the day. You slurp down your morning cup of coffee, glare at yourself in the mirror, and wonder what’s the point of it all? Why am I living my life half exhausted wandering from place to place doing what I’m told when I’m told to make myself a living? This is exactly how a pessimist often thinks;, they tend to see only the worst in a scenario or believe that only the lowest possible situation will happen. I have chosen not to live my life like that, I have chosen to not only try to lead each day with a positive mind and a healthy attitude, but I have also decided to spread optimism to others by the simple gestures such as a smile. I will admit that at times being an optimistic person isn’t always easy because

The first way is to know what seems to be related to the word of optimist. The answer is positive. So make friends with the positive. It does not mean you ignore every difficulty you face actually. It is about finding the positive within an understanding. You need to believe if there will always an opportunity around the problem to stay in positive thinking.

In Sophie Scholl’s story, she writes to her boyfriend “‘I don't like to think about it, but soon there is going to be nothing left but politics, and as long as it's so confused and evil, it's cowardly to turn away from it’” (Bartoletti). In Sophie’s point of view, cowardliness leads no no resolutions. She believes people must face the conflict and accept the consequences. According to the article, “The Neutral Basis of Optimism and Pessimism”, “The pessimist . . . observes mainly the negative aspects of everything around. Thinking of all the potential dangers and pitfalls on the way, the pessimist is likely to have little hope for the future”(Hect). Pessimism shows weakness in one’s ability to resolve conflict successfully. Allowing fear and discouragement into one’s mind tends to curtail the ability to reach full potential. University of Notre Dame College writes, “Avoiding or withdrawing from a conflict requires no courage or consideration for the other party. By avoiding the conflict, you essentially pretend that it never happened or doesn’t exist.” Turning away from conflict is inadvisable because it means are turning away from an opportunity to grow. One does not learn if they cannot face conflict. Therefore, expressing a pessimistic or fearful outlook on life does not lead to growth, learning, or successful conflict

Optimistic and pessimistic attitudes constantly affect the outcome of people's lives. In my life, I try to keep an optimistic attitude about the things I do because I know it will help lead me to more desirable ends. There have been many situations in which optimism has helped me through difficult times. Two areas in particular have provided me optimistic experiences: athletics