Whether we have had the best day ever or the worst day ever, there is something good that comes out of that day. Sometimes we have those days, and we can all relate to them, that just do not go as planned and nothing seems right. Life throws obstacles in the way, and you have to react in some way. Other days, it feels like we cannot get ourselves in gear, and it seems like we are stuck. Regardless how ready you are for the day, nothing is for sure, but you do have control over your attitude. When I am having a bad day I try to turn it around and find the good in it. Last week I could not get in the swing of things, and all I could do was look forward to the weekend. On this particular day, I felt like I was in a fog, and the day seemed sluggish. As I trudged through my classes and focused on the ticking hands of classroom clocks, I realized I needed to do something to find the good in this day. I decided that maybe a coffee would do the trick, so I headed over to the Student Union. This is when I saw my day becoming a little brighter. The Starbuck’s worker who took my order was in the highest of spirits and had a beaming and enthusiastic smile about her. She did not know I was having a rough day and her kindness was the exact thing I needed to see. And while it seems stereotypical of a college student to be recharged after a cup of coffee, the coffee was not the variable to change my attitude, it was the kindness of someone who was obviously having a better day than I was. From this point on, my day was looking up, and it got even better when my last class for the day was cancelled. My weekend had arrived in an instant. So while my day was never horrible by any means, I was not feeling myself, and I did not like it. It is easy to wake up in a bad mood and stay that way, but we cannot let it stand in the way of finding good in every day. The Starbuck’s worker had no idea she was an encouragement to me, but I received a blessing from her kindness. This goes to show kindness is everything, and even a small act can certainly make a change in someone’s world. I am making it my mission this week to be the kindness someone needs to turn their week around for the better. In finding goodness in each day, it does not have to be a big thing; it just needs to be genuine and meaningful to you. For me, a smile was simply enough. Discover the good in every day. Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2016
0 Comments
Instead of having a dreaded manic Monday, have a mantra Monday! For whatever reason, Mondays never go quite as planned, and they are not the most praised day of the week. But they do not have to be tagged as that. Discover and dedicate a manta for your life to make Monday, and everyday, something to look forward to. It was my first week of ninth grade at a new school with all new people. In one of my classes, I had a teacher ask us to find a quote that meant something to us and made us happier when we read it. At the time, I did not have a specific quote, so I was on the hunt for the perfect one. I scoured the internet to find a quote I could be proud of. My search returned plenty of quotes, but none I wanted to claim. I let the assignment go for a day, thinking the down time would renew my thoughts for the next search. In the meantime, I went about my day. At some point I had flipped a notebook to the back cover for whatever reason, and there it was. The quote made its presence known to me as it popped off of the page. And it has been my mantra ever since. “The only requirement of having a dream is believing in it.” This quote by Molly Barker said so much in such few words. It was perfect. At the time of choosing this to share with my classmates, I did not know why I liked it; I just did. I also did not foresee how literal I would internalize the meaning I created for these words in applying them to my life. The lasting impact of this quote has kept me invested in pursuing every dream I create for myself, and has ultimately made me dream bigger. I have Molly Barker’s quote to thank for providing me the insight and diligence to checking off some of my top bucket list items. I am continually reminding myself of dreams I hope to achieve. It is easy to get discouraged and let others stand in the way. The key to transforming dreams into a reality is being persistent and believing one day each and every dream will come true. Whenever someone tries to rain on your parade and tell you your dreams are too big or impossible, make it your mission to believe in them even more than you already do. Maybe Journey was trying to tell us all something: “Don’t Stop Believing.” Life is too short not to fulfill the dreams your soul desires. That small assignment others found insignificant made an impact on me, and it has helped make me a stronger person when it comes to following my dreams in the chase to achievement. I hope you do the same for yourself and have a motto, quote, or word to look at every day that powers your dreams. Have a Happy Mantra Monday! Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2016 The world is a community of people, at large. On the macro-cosmic level, the world is a mosaic of diverse cultures, multitudes of languages, and exponential amounts of viewpoints. These components are not all-encapsulating or entirely exclusive to this level, but they do create a masterpiece of a greater purpose. This greater purpose may seem unattainable, but the potential for this movement could just be the one thing that changes this world. Every day the goal is to get up, live life, and move on to the next day. This repetitive lifestyle does not bring satisfaction for being the change the world so desperately needs. Now, this change will not occur overnight, nor will it happen if only a few people decide to change. This belief system I am proposing revolves around acceptance, patience, and understanding: acceptance of differences, patience in disagreements, and understanding of disruptions. All of these factors otherwise contribute to some degree of hate. Our hearts should be filled to the brim with love. With the new-found acceptance, patience, and understanding, the world may transform before our eyes. The inspiration behind this belief system stemmed from a car ride jotting around town running errands. The song “Love Turns The World” came on, and although I have heard it before, I had not listened to it in the same capacity as I did this time. This song stayed in my mind, and I got to thinking; the words of this song could change the way we approach differentness, uniqueness, and apprehensiveness. Think about it. What if love was the driving force that made the world turn? I think we would begin to view people from a different perspective. I think judgments would fall by the wayside. I think compassion could be restored. If true and genuine love was in the fore running of our thoughts, our world would take on a much different façade, and it would conceal a world of deceit and falsehood. Moving forward with this concept and inspiration from the song, looking for beauty and wonder in the most surprising places would rejuvenate appreciativeness. We take so many things for granted in this world and in the simplest areas of our lives. It is easy to take a look at a butterfly and think of its external art on the wings, but we must take a step back and appreciate the bland colors of a caterpillar first to truly marvel at the beauty of the butterfly. Likewise, for a diamond, the saying ‘a diamond in the rough’ illustrates the intricate work to transform dull coal to a precious diamond. Enough with these metaphors; I hope the point has been made, and the idea of gratitude should be resembled in the love we begin to express more. As this song was coming to a close, I was reminded of another song. While I began thinking about the two songs together and the messages they portrayed, “Love In Any Language” soon came on the radio. The thought of love being translated and understood in every language in the world was jarring to me. The possibility of all humans on this planet being able to define, understand, and apply love makes me wonder why there is not more of it in the world. I cannot help but wonder what a world without turmoil, sadness, hate, discrimination, and prejudice could ever look like. Love could do our world a great favor, but so much will have to happen for this utopian-styled world to ever occur. One can dream, though. The bottom line is love could be just as powerful as success and wealth, but those (among other things) have gotten in the way of idealistic living. And while some may feel I am being too much of a dreamer to long to live in a world without negative events happening and it seeming normal, I think of future generations who will be devoured by negativity. Boundaries of race and religion, along with other discriminatory lines, have been in the spotlight for too long, and we as a world community have lost sight of the things that matter most. I am not going to persuade those set far in their ways to save the world, but I can spark a thought that could make the world a little brighter for those who need it. Love is not the quick fix to end the wars or stop terrorism, but it can bring a smile to someone’s face. A small act of kindness blossoming from love and compassion can make someone’s bad day a little brighter. Love may never completely power the world, but if it was the only force making the world spin, I think actions and decisions would be drastically different on all cosmic levels. Be the love that turns the world. Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2016 As my much enjoyed winter break is nearing its close, I am reflecting on last semester and gearing up for my second semester at The University of Toledo (Go Rockets!). My transition from a two-year institution to a four-year institution went well. The University of Toledo is much bigger than any school I have ever gone to, and at times that was quite overwhelming. I was not going to be defeated by a new atmosphere and let it play with my head, so I put on my ‘big-girl pants’ and saddled up for the ride. On my first day, I had those jitters that would not go away. Right as I would begin to lose that nervous feeling in one class it was time to move on to the next and the trek across campus brought on the nerves all over again. Once my first day was over and I was back in the comforts of my car, I could breathe easy and know that I had made the right decision in attending The University of Toledo. The fall semester came and went, and I loved every minute of it. I am finally beyond taking pre-requisite classes, so I am enjoying taking classes in my major of Speech-Language Pathology and minor of Counseling. I have amazing advisors, and I have taken full advantage of meeting with them regularly to make sure I was staying on track. I have found that to being my key to success. I have been in contact with counselors and department advisors since I was a sophomore in high school because I did not want to waste precious time and hard-earned money on unnecessary classes that would not transfer in the end. I think if I had any fear of transferring, this was it. I am happy to say all eighty-two credits from Monroe County Community College transferred with no questions or problems. This probably had to be the biggest relief for me. Looking ahead to the coming spring semester, all I can hope for is a semester equally as smooth as my previous. I never had any problems with instructors or classes, and I do not think that can be said many times in a person’s college career. I will be in three classes for my major and two classes are for my minor. Since I really do not have pre-requisites to fit in my schedule as a time buffer, I am stacking junior and senior classes to fill my schedule to make it full time. I am looking forward to jumping in this semester in hopes of learning much knowledge, meeting new people, and understanding others’ views. I have always had a great curiosity about new ideas and concepts, and I think it should be everyone’s mission to at least be open to others’ beliefs and ideologies. Diversity is an aspect of being on the campus and that makes it easy to learn about diverse topics without stepping out of bounds. So moving forward, I want to list off the tips and tricks to having a successful and organized semester. These things have helped me throughout my schooling, so hopefully it will help in one way or another for others.
I am entering the spring semester with the mindset of “I can and I will.” Nothing is going to stand between me and the grades I strive for. I will not let a bump in the road get in the way of the goals I have set for myself, and I am definitely not going to let a rough day defeat me. I will be taking this semester one step at a time on the road to success. Stay Curious, Kayla In addition to my tips and tricks, here is a list of my favorite and must-have school supplies that I love:
©Inquisitive Perspectives 2016 Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote encompasses the greatest resolution we can wish upon ourselves in the coming year. Embarking on each year's new adventures requires a positive attitude. We live each day--minute by minute, hour by hour--hoping for the next best thing to happen. Living our days wishing and waiting for time to pass leaves us living a meaningless life with emptiness inside. Instead of living for the next big accomplishment or great moment to happen, we should wake up every morning being thankful for seeing a new day, and start the day with the mindset that today is the day something amazing will happen, regardless of how big or small. Sometimes happiness can be found in places where it is least expected. With this idea of creating milestones each day, rather than by the year as a whole, it will make the days sweeter with each breath of life. If every day becomes the best, everyone is bound to be happy, stay positive, and look forward to the next best day of the year. Hoping for the best year is probably at the top of everyone's New Year's Resolutions list, but the methods of achieving such status will vary. I want to enter 2016 with this specific quote in mind. Once the heart has ties and forms a commitment to something, there is no stopping it; the possibilities are endless. Where you take your best day of the year is up to you and the limitless ends of your creative mind. I sincerely hope you will make a conscious decision to adopt the application of the great Ralph Waldo Emerson, and truly make 2016 positively the best year. Stay Curious, Kayla ©Inquisitive Perspectives 2016 |
Archives
July 2019
|