To Build a Better Mind
“Happiness is the natural outcome of your state of mind”- Confucius. As this quote was stated by the first teacher in Chinese history, Confucius focused a lot on the happiness of one’s life based on their choices, decisions and ideas. Based on Chinese philosophy, once you make decisions you always have choices. Therefore one major problem in my mind is when people don’t take advantage of education in life for their possibilities of happiness. I know that everyone has different expectations and not all are school oriented, but my problem is why complain, when you do nothing to resolve it? There are always situations that aren’t easy to deal with, but with the right support, you can always find a way to make it better. This problem I have has to do a lot with my personal experience of self- doubts and complaints that made no changes, but just discouraged the mind. Your choices and decisions can be based on your desires and emotions or on reasons and the support you get from individuals, whether it’s family or friends are based on self or mutual benefit. However, it all depends on you and no one else, your life, you chose what to do with it. “There are no individuals in Japan, either inferior or superior” (Chapter 4: Confucianism in Japan). This is a positive point because no one should ever label them-selves as better than someone else. We all have our own abilities and if we work hard enough we can achieve the impossible. There are people who have nothing and came from the worst conditions, but that never stopped them from becoming great individuals and making a difference in society. This problem has affected my school work in a positive manner. I have learned that hard works pays off and if you try with all you got, there’s no way that failure will conquer. I believe that education should be a priority in one’s life, because without it you have no knowledge of reality, you wouldn’t know how to live in such of a society with diversity. The problem of dealing with the difficulties and looking beyond it has helped me strive harder and look forward to future opportunities. It has boost up my confidence and it has made the people who doubted me look at me as an inspiration. For example, when a friend complains about the littlest problem in life when they’re not even in school or have to pay their own bills, it bothers me that they can’t look past their problems, and figure out ways to change them. You don’t have to go to school to better your life, if it’s not for you then look for something that fits you and search for your happiness without making it seem like you have no other choice. Making my-self happy has opened doors for being able to have job opportunities and have positive social relationships with friends, families, and my daily community. If one person stays positive in a bad situation, it will overpower and perhaps spread, therefore I don’t let the fear of failing get in my head. I learned that time doesn’t wait on you, so chase your dreams and it will chase back in good will. The root cause of the problem, I believe is ourselves and not being able to motivate our own minds. Others may blame someone else, but I can’t blame someone who isn’t living my life or are in my shoes. Every decision we make is made with thought and is analyzed. In order to agree with them, we must make sure it benefits us in some type of way. I am not going to choice something that is going to be bad in my future reference; I have to be able to make smarter decisions because one good decision leads to another. Life was never handed to you to be easy, we all go through struggles and pain, life goes on whether you’re on the bandwagon or not. Motivating my-self has been a habit. For example, I constantly make sure I remind my-self that I have a family who I want to make happy. My brother who is special needs has given me the strength to do whatever I set my mind to and never give up, because he has shown and proved that life can be worst, if you have the abilities to strive, why not go above and beyond? That’s why I am looking forward towards happiness for me and my loved ones. There are going to be tough and bumpy roads ahead, but if I have the right equipment, I will get through it. Each day is a new day to look forward to, and making a simple difference. As for examples I have learned in class, individuals in China work hard each day to get where they want in life. They don’t seem to look at the negativities and they find ways to better their economy as a whole. They have the right tools to adjust to the life they have and know what to do to make themselves and others happy. They have been a partner of the American society in helping our marketing companies. I’m living because I have all I need to survive; therefore happiness is my only option. As for myself, something that I can do to solve the problem is simply become an inspiration to others. Show to others that if I made it they can as well. I can also give positive and uplifting advice to the ones in need of some encouraging words. I have always been told that you can’t let what other think or say get to you, because if anything some want to see you fail, you have to be able to prove them wrong. I always had an issue on someone complaining that they have no support or constantly put down, I always say that you do it all for yourself in the end, therefore don’t let the little things that can be resolved get inside your head and distract you from what you want. In addition, yes, it is possible for you to take a different approach to deal with this problem. One is finding your purpose and setting goals for yourself and rewarding yourself each time you succeed one goal. Secondly, you can learn to control you surroundings of negatively and wrap yourself in positive environments with good friends. As it was said before, let the reason control your emotion, and let the emotion control your desire. This means if you want to become a doctor because you love helping people, for example, don’t let the rumors of “it takes too long” or “its hard work” control the way you feel about becoming a doctor. You let the passion of helping people become a desire that will be achieved. Let your choices and decisions become a living truth. The future belongs to those who prepare for it today, strive for happiness in whatever way that pleases you. Sadly, we don’t all have the same mindsets, therefore being able to make your dreams come true you will have to go through some obstacles and make the decisions that will benefit you and make you happy. I come from my own experience, and opinion, now you make a choice to take it as a reference or as a disagreement, your decision makes a difference.