The Is Human Flourishing : An Effective Level Of Self Acceptance And Confident After A Long Journey

Success can mean different things to different people. The definition of success can change for a person at different stages of their life. A person's culture, family, friends, experiences, and environment can be a big influence on defining what success is to that individual. We all hear the stories of people failing and failing until one day they make it to the top, beat the bad guy or pass the trial. The story can also go that they got all they desired or raised up from the ashes. All of these have one thing in common, it is at the end of the story. It's never the beginning or middle. It's always at the end of the story that the person succeeds in their quest. But why does it have to be at the end? Simply, like how there is no good without evil. You can not have succeed without struggling and failing first.

After an individual fails to meet the normal expectations, they find themselves seeking other spheres where they can be accepted with their unique and non-conventional identities. Andrew Solomon, for example, struggles to meet the expectation of his mother and the society concerning his sexual orientation. At 19 years of age, he tries a therapy that was expected to change his sexual orientation. He “exercises” with various women to meet these expectations. However, in his adulthood, the rejection of Solomon’s sexual orientation and his failure to meet what the society and his mother expected of him led him to find other spheres where his identity could be accepted. He states that in his adulthood; “being gay is an identity; the tragic narrative my parents feared for me is no longer inevitable. The happy life I now lead was unimaginable…” (Solomon 381). In essence, Solomon found his true identity, and this also allowed him to seek for relationships with other people who accepted his true identity. He finds it easy to associate and identify with other disabled people who he considers as minorities and whose identities run parallel to his such as those with autism and

Who We Are is determined by our individual growth and development. According to Erik Erikson (1971) eight stage developmental theory, humans continue to develop throughout their entire lifespan from birth until death. Each stage representing a key aspect in the development of one’s identity, and personality, and overall well-being. Our personal identity gives each of us an integrated and cohesive sense of self that endures and continues to grow as we age (Santrock 2009). These elements are influenced by factors such as socioeconomic status, location, culture, spiritual beliefs, and meeting of the basic human need. They determine how we grow, develop, and live our daily lives. Traveling through each stage in life from youth, adolescence, and adulthood, we must identify our strength and weaknesses through our choices, experiences, trauma, and death. Each experience influences our structure as it relates to adaptability, resilience, and help identity the consciousness of self. This development analysis is the journey through my life emphasizing on my personal growth and development setting the stage to the person that writes this paper reflecting on her life choices, and experiences in several forms (physically, mentally, and spiritually).

According to Psychologist Abraham Maslow in “Self-actualization and Beyond,” self-actualization is a process in which one identifies his inner ability to do something productive. Once this inner talent comes out, that’s when a person actualizes himself. He believes that every individual self-actualizes, and while doing so one might make many wrong choices. Sonny and his older brother are faced with several obstacles while being on a journey to self-actualization in “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin. However, these obstacles not only come from their surroundings, but within themselves as well. The narrator himself and his younger brother, Sonny struggle with, and gradually develop their own

Like Mr. James McGreevey, many individuals who are at the point of understanding themselves more clearly are faced with the unknown and are constantly challenged by all that is developing. The world in which we live is the same; it is surrounded by ever changing things and we, human beings are forced to accept and carry on our lives in complete unison with. People today seem to follow the same trend; their attitudes, hobbies and self-awareness all seem to change with the ticking of time. However many times an individual is left to journey through their new selves without the attention or the approval of those around them. If a person discovers a part of

In the current age of overwhelming amount of information, it is easy to lose track of who we are, what we want, and what life truly means to us. The highly competitive society which places higher value on status rather than human relationships and authenticity, leaves many people feeling disconnected from their dreams and potential. Rebuilding this connection with ourselves enables us to build more meaningful connections with others and reality around us.

All over the world people are struggling to be themselves and simply be happy. A lot of young men and women are teased, isolated, abused, and some even murdered. With all of the controversy in this day and age people are bullied for being gay, not being white, being transgender, having been previously abused, and a lot of the time there isn’t a real reason at all. Nobody has the right to judge and punish another human being for expressing who they are. Everyone is who they are, and they shouldn’t be punished for it. In the world that we live in today those people who don’t fall into the “social norm” must either hide who they are, or face the humiliation and abuse. Neither of those alternatives are optimistic. Anybody should be able to be out in public and not have to worry about being tormented for who they truly

Now I am fully aware that I am not the only person in the world that goes through a daily existential crisis; I personally wait and panic around 5:30 in the evening. Nonetheless, the question in figuring out one’s own identity has plagued humanity from the beginning of time and continues to affect even the culture of today. Found in the Greek epic The Odyssey, the title character’s son Telemachus confronts a multitude of outside difficulties, which in turn progresses his journey to find himself. In extension, more recent works including “Living with Integrity”, an essay by Bob Barret, encapsulates this same idea of finding one’s true identity, however in the context of a gay man discerning his sexuality. Innately, both these examples relate to my own personal goal in finding myself. My obstacles, both external and internal, correspond to those of Telemachus and Bob Barret. For it is through our shared odysseys of the mind that I am ultimately able to reach my apex; I am able to find myself.

Because happiness can be different things to different people, Happiness Advantage examines the importance of defining the happiness. People tend to follow the pattern of success leads to happiness; however, after many experiments, Achor has found out that people actually experience the moment of happiness before they successfully reach their goal. It’s important for a person to learn how to improve her mood and raise her level of happiness throughout the day. So that she can retrain her brain to capitalize on positivity in order to improve productivity and performance.

Through this experience I have become a more balanced person because I have achieved personal well-being as well as the ability to care more for the well being of others. One reason I believe I have become more balanced is I have learned to care more for myself. Personal well-being is not only physical but, emotional too; emotional well-being is the the presence of a healthy amount or lack of stress, anxiety, and or high levels of self-criticism. After my experience with bullying, these traits are all characteristics that I have recently adopted into my daily life. Furthermore, achieving well being of others means being there for people you care about. Well being for others does not mean that you have to make sure they aren't stressed or that you have to force them to be happy all time; it means you care for others, and you offer a shoulder to cry on or an ear to listen if someone asks, and sometimes even if they don't.

One of my favorite things to do is play soccer, and I play for the Lady Rebels at OCCHS as well as the Dyersburg Lady Wolves of the Jackson Futbol Club. I am active with Obion County 4-H, and through it I am involved in various community service projects throughout the year with my favorite being the Walk of Hope. I have an interest in most sciences, but I definitely prefer chemistry.

“I just want to be someone, mean something to anyone, I want to be the real ME”, by Charlotte Eriksson. The quest of my journey is to discover my real purpose, my real goal but most importantly, find my real identity. This is known as the “Identity versus Role Confusion Stage” or as described by psychoanalyst Erik H. Erikson, the fifth stage of the Eight Stages of Man. It occurs between the ages of 12 to 18, where every person battles to establish a certain roll or skill that provides one with a sense of a sturdy foundation in the adult society. I too am currently going through this stage of life, dodging many obstacles in order to seek out my identity. The hardest obstacle- my attempt to fit in with my peers, but the extremes I took to

Nevertheless since I was 18 years old, I have struggled with accepting and defining my

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Being myself around others is easy, but becoming myself is what has truly defined me. I had to discover my authentic self, despite the overwhelming input and expectations of everyone and everything around me. Genetically, I was born into the world female, but inherently, I knew I was transgender before even learning that “gender” was a word. I used to believe that someone had “made a mistake”, because I was arbitrarily born in a girl’s body. But now I know, that was exactly where I was supposed to be. It would have been easier if I was just born genetically male, but I know my time spent living as a female and my time spent living as a transgender male has enabled me to accept, appreciate, and have the ability to communicate with people from all walks of life. The limitations, unwanted attention, and stereotypes that accompany being transgender could have easily broken me, but instead I have geared my experiences towards forming myself into the confident, fearless person I am today.