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KNOWING ONESELF

Understanding the self was a great topic that dealt with various aspects on self-identification, including intelligence, abilities and self-care. It has helped me to respect and appreciate myself more. I never expected this subject to have a significant impact on my well-being. But mainly, it led me to discover about myself throughout the subject.

Self-identity. I discovered that self-identification is not just the essential characteristics of self-recognizing. It also includes the different perspectives of the self, such as philosophical, psychological, spiritual, sociological and much more. I believe that these perspectives are true because some people view themselves like that. It always depends on myself, I can view myself, depending on where I belong or based on my physical traits, status or spiritual beliefs. Where I slowly and carefully realize that the more I learn, the more I appreciate and gain more ideas on describing myself. And at the same time, it’s fulfilling, in a way I view myself is not like other people.

True self. I discovered that exploring your true self is through appreciating and accepting my well-being. However, most of the people view themselves based on their physical attributes or material possessions. I remember that I was once like that before. Way back in my high school days, I view myself base on my physical trait because I was insecure and self-conscious. I also give more value to material possessions and being worried about my reputation. Until I accepted and discovered my true self, and all those tangible things became worthless. I believe that material and physical self is a key, a great way for me to motivate, empower other people to love themselves more rather than other things.

Self-care. I discovered that I need to give more time for myself and it is not a selfish act either. Managing and caring for the self was an eye opener for me. Recently, I made my self a self-care plan and it made me analyze carefully of what actions I do to take care of myself more. Since I’m a nursing student and, I should fulfill my self-love first before taking care of other people. And if I don’t take enough care of myself, I won’t be in the place to give to my love to other people either.

I am grateful and fulfilled that I finally accomplished myself in a deeper meaning. I’m glad that these articles I made so far had led me to self-reflection and having more time talking to myself. Also, I realize that it is not that easy to find your true self and it takes time to grow your well-being. Remember, self is not something one finds but it is something one creates.

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Self-Care Action Plan

Many students spend countless late-night hours preparing for tests, balancing school, social life, and submitting papers at the end of the day. While college is one of the best opportunities for students, many are struggling to prioritize their time to integrate self-care. Although your academics are extremely important, but don't forget to give you time to take care of yourself. So, I created myself a self-care plan.

Physical care. Physical care are activities that help me to stay healthy, and with enough energy to get through my work and personal commitments. Since I always have heavy periods and it makes me more anemic. I always make sure that I take iron and vitamin supplements once a day because it prevents me from dizziness, and it treats my anemia. I always drink water to keep myself hydrated all day. I also need to eat healthy food, such as fish and vegetables to maintain a healthy body. Lastly, I always make sure to sleep early if possible, or at least 6-8 hours a day to keep my body energized and to keep my brain work actively the next day. In addition, I always make sure that I exercise at least once a week to stay fit.

Cognitive care. When we are stress, we always find ways to deal with it. When I feel stressed, tired and need a calm mind after my schoolwork, I try to focus on the environment around me. Sometimes, I would go out for a moment to take a break then take deep breaths or sometimes I take a nap. Another great way to ease my mind is to take myself out to eat, listen to music or take a bath. Also, when I feel demotivated, I try to organize, make artworks or clean around my workplace because it helps my mind to focus and be productive as well.

Emotional care. Dealing with our emotions can be challenging. We tend to label emotions as behavior, but this isn’t helpful. There are things I do to take care of my feelings in healthy ways. I talk to my friends or family about my situation because they are always there when I need a shoulder to lean on. Most importantly, I cry when I need to, I let myself cry because it is the best way for me to let go of my feelings. I always try my best to accept my feelings and move forward. Additionally, my approach to inspiring myself is to practice self-manifestation, where I write what I wish for three times in a journal, in order to fulfill the law of attraction that I can do everything.

Social care. Connecting with others is an important part of self-care. It can also mean remembering that others go through similar experiences and difficulties as we do. I have great ways about maintaining healthy, supportive relationships, and valuing relationship. First, I prioritize close relationships, I attend special events and spend time with them. It makes me more positive and outgoing when I enjoy and share these experiences with them. Still, I carefully choose whom to be friends with. Great friends encourage you a lot, rather than toxic friends who makes your well-being negative. Regardless of who they are, I will always love them because that makes our relationship stronger and happier.

Moral care. Moral care is also significant in self-care since it follows the virtue of relationships in the society. As an individual, it is important to have moral values. I strongly believe in my values because it defines my well-being as a good citizen of the society. I believe that each one of us has different behaviors and beliefs but one thing that could bring us all is respect. My greatest way to show my value is a respect for myself and for other people. I always fight for my rights with dignity and limit, because sometimes people tend to cross the line and criticize me. However, I will always make sure that it is right and show them the right way in every aspect. Getting with my values, is what really matter.

Spiritual care. A spiritual self-care practice is any ritual that connects you to your true self, the real you. Personally, I often pray, meditate and connect with nature. I Meditate because I need to build self-awareness and develop a strategy for handling situation in life. I always practice meditation and relaxation methods through finding a quiet place to take deep breaths in a relaxed position. I also turn off my mobile devices to reduce distractions. I also write down my thoughts in my journal every end of the day because it lets me reflect my ambitions in life. Most of all, I always practice forgiveness because it is important to stay present and accept pleasure and pain as part of your journey to spiritual health and balance. 

Self-care is taking care of yourself, it is not a selfish act either. It is not only about fulfilling our needs, it is also about knowing what we need to do in order to take care of ourselves and being able to take care of others as well. Well, if I don’t take enough care of myself, I won’t be in the place to give love either.

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Dream It, Be It!

Life is a journey that can often lead you to unpredictable places. It’s an adventure with challenges and opportunities in your path. Your journey is a search for a fulfilling and meaningful life. It’s finding your long-term goal with a purpose. It is something that you want to fulfill and explore the strategies that can help you take that confident steps in your life journey.

Ever since I was very little my mom has been taking care of me. She had so much passion for taking care of people. She loved helping people and people loved being helped by her. I feel like a person is born with the traits of becoming a great nurse. I want to be a Registered Nurse rather than any other healthcare profession because I feel like nothing is more rewarding than helping someone in need. I love to help people and to just be around people in general.

I’ve been preparing myself to take that steps on becoming a nurse. From senior high school, I took Humanities and Social Sciences strand so I can improve my communication skills because in nursing, it is important to communicate to patients. As of now, I’m a freshmen student in Davao Doctors College. I am choosing Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree since it enables individuals to become more knowledgeable about the nursing industry and how to further assist patients. First, I need to be able to pass all my subjects per year level. I need to study wiser and be able to graduate as BSN and by obtaining my degree I can then be better prepared for when I take my Philippine Nurse Licensure Examination to become a licensed nurse. However, I need to acquire good resources to achieve this goal. One of my greatest resource is having a support system. A support from family, friends and wise colleagues to be your companion. A mental, emotional, social, physical and financial support is very essential. These kinds of support will always be my source of inspiration and motivation towards long-term goal.

Everyone has a goal. God has a purpose in giving me these interests, it is understanding my gift for service. My main goal is to aim for “the better life” where serving God in way that expresses my heart. To do what I love and to do it for His glory. Nursing is not just a profession, it’s a calling. I want to share my love to other people and to make this world a better place to live in. This will not just give me a means of income, but a satisfying and worthwhile life.

We live this life differently where we run at our own speed. This goal takes more time to achieve and it might be a bittersweet experience. However, I envision my achievement to happen 5 to 6 years from now. Even if It takes a whole lot of courage, a strong and a humble heart to achieve this. Goal is the ultimate checklist for life, but I believe that living with purpose in life is the only way in living life to the fullest. Live life to love!

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IMPROVEMENT begins with “I”

To obtain our academic goals, we must overcome the challenges by identifying our strengths and weakness. In recognizing our strength and weaknesses, we can attain it by examining ourselves through M.I. Inventory. This Multiple Intelligence theory was proposed by Howard Gardner, in his book Frames of Mind (1983). Gardner stated that people do not have just an intellectual capacity but also various kinds of intelligence, including introspective, interactive, analytical intelligence. While a person may be particularly strong in a specific field, where he or she most likely acquires a range of abilities.

Being concerned with my strengths and weaknesses, I evaluated myself through Multiple Intelligence Inventory. As a result, I have Introspective intelligence particularly in Visual area. Although both of my Analytical and Interactive intelligence are in the same level but they have a particular strength, like musical and kinesthetic ability. It is widely unique because I have visual, musical and kinesthetic strengths and somehow it has a great combination. Introspective component, emotive connection and interaction, these three combinations are my ways of accomplishing my goals and improve skills in learning.

I figured out my strength and weaknesses based on my M.I. evaluation that it made my skills more appreciated. I developed great skills like flexibility, creativity and sense of responsibility. At the same time, one of my strengths is that I’m good at playing instrument which helped me to relieve my stress, control my emotions and by empowering myself to do better. I also enjoy expressing my thoughts through art because it makes me feel more creative and open. Also, I listen and give time to my friends and family because I value relationships and it makes my life more alive. Most importantly, I give my skills back to the community by sharing the skills I have. Beside my strengths, I also have weaknesses. My greatest weakness is that I’m not good at communicating to other people. Sometimes, I cannot explain myself and stutter especially when there are impromptu questions in class.

Weaknesses are also considerations in the context of barriers to achieving my goals. I consider my lack of communication skills as barrier to accomplishing my goal. In order to overcome this obstacle, I should face my fear. I’m totally aware that I get easily intimidated however I will try my best to overcome my fear and practice. Just by letting my thoughts express, by simply listening for others and by participating actively in class or group tasks so that I can learn and establish new strategies in improving my communication skills.

Despite of these given strengths, I also have disappointments with my schoolwork. One of my biggest disappointment is that I get low scores due to my bad habit of learning. Instead of managing my time, I still procrastinate the important things I should have done first and not prioritize them. To change those bad habits, I motivate myself and find a peaceful area where I can start my tasks. I organize my things, I plan my schedules, I use Pomodoro technique also, I turn off my devices to help me focus to my studying time.

Even if it is a small thing, I always appreciate it as a great achievement, and I value it as my happiness. Not long ago, I graduated as an honor student, I pursued nursing, I got high grades in my midterm, I also managed to knit my own clothing and, now I can easily perform my favorite piece of music. I consider these things as my achievement since it is more focused on myself. I am so grateful that during this time of pandemic, I was able have more time for myself where I improved a lot. Also, I discovered my own form of therapy where I was able to do the things I really love. Indeed, self-healing made me happy and fulfilled.

Reference:

Cherry, K. (2013). Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. Verywell Mind. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/gardners-theory-of-multiple-intelligences-2795161

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“Absolute truth”

What I really like about Eastern concept is that they focused on finding your absolute truth. A search for the truth where their goals and key to success were through spiritual and holistic approach. I believe that using their methods of meditation can establish control over your emotion although I disliked the fact that they share the same goal to teach, how to become a perfect person. I believe that there’s no such thing as perfect human being because we have our own unique individuality. Mainly, I respect their belief systems and it greatly differs their features compared to western concept.

As far as other nationalities are concerned, belittling me or my fellow Filipino people is triggering me. Honestly, I get offended, but I take control of my emotions by expressing with respect on my thoughts towards the situation. I started changing my perception to the situation, regardless if they are good or bad because it causes prejudgment. I respect and understand other cultures, religions, and countries. This could avoid many problems such as discrimination and more importantly we should teach newer generations to respect each other regardless of their differences. With all of this we can change our perception of the stereotypes that are deeply rooted in our society and make of this a better society.

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“I love me”

Dear me,

I know it’s been rough these past few weeks, but I really want to apologize to you for your careless behavior and numerous negative thoughts to you.

I want to begin by saying I apologize for not having confidence to fight for your rights towards other people belittling you.

I feel such hatred… I apologize for judging yourself so harshly. I’m sorry that I didn’t believed in you and taken you for granted. I’m sorry that I went against you and thought that you are not enough.

I’m sorry that you keep pretending yourself that you are fine. I’m sorry because I did all these things to you. I’m sorry for making your life difficult and that I didn’t tell you that I love you.

I love you from the bottom of my heart. I accept you, that’s why you haven’t given up and we’re still here. Deep from my heart, you are enough, and you are worth loving. You deserve all the happiness in this world.

You’ve learned from your mistakes, I know you want grow into a great person and I know you can. Don’t worry, I got your back and I’ll take care of you.

I forgive you and I hope in the future, you do.

Thank you for being you. Just keep going!

Sincerely,

me

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“Authentic Self”

In unleashing my better self is to figure out who I am. I always take my time to evaluate myself through identifying my strengths and weaknesses. Knowing myself, I always complain about the things that aren’t going the way I want them to and I end up getting frustrated and even losing my track. These are just some of my weaknesses that I want to change. I stop whining and started thinking about setting meaningful goals in life. Pursuing these goals kept me motivated and keeps me focused in finding my purpose in life.

As the only girl growing up among three brothers, I feel that I am very well influenced for who I am today. I find time to look upon what I am thankful for and that is my family. When I do these things, I become happier, compassionate and look upon life with positive attitude. Many people would agree that I’m sweet because I have partly adopted that from my Ilonggo parents but mostly, I have myself. Sometimes during difficult times, having a supportive family helps when I feel down, and it improves my strong set of ethics and morals in life.

Living in Davao had a strong impact on my lifestyle, mostly because I hang out with my friends and I attend mass assemblies in our church.  Surrounded with good friends have influenced me through music, humor, sports and social life. It made me more independent and it honed my skills. Most importantly, having a personal connection to God guided me towards accepting myself and finding my passion in life.  I’m one step closer to my twenties so instead of being obsessive about the future, I will live in the present, enjoy the beauty of life and become connected with my true self.

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Which philosopher coincides my personality?

I believe that my personality corresponds with Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophical perspective of the self that “mind and body are inseparable”.  My weaknesses, strengths, how I express myself, how I overcome my challenges in life, how I respond to my environment and the way I value things reflected my identity of myself.  Everyone has a freedom to express themselves and like Maurice, I highly respect other beliefs too. Thus, I believe that I cannot understand myself without body and mind. I even begun to doubt my self-identity back then, but my physical and emotional structures, values, beliefs, impressions and experiences have led me into who I am today.