celebrate small victories

One thing that I've learned about myself is that I have periods of overworking myself and then (longer) periods of pure laziness. And it's quite an issue because it would be better if I could balance the two. It's still in the works. But a way to get myself to do something productive—even for a short period of time—is to treat myself occasionally. Especially if you have a mindset like me, where you think that it's bad that nothing productive is getting done, which only promotes more slumps. But even if you get something accomplished and it has been more than what you've been doing usually, then it is a small victory. It's not a bad thing to pat yourself on the back once in a while. In fact, just the right amount of self-appreciation can boost your confidence and work ethic. However, there can also be a negative side to treating yourself, don't get me wrong. It is definitely possible to treat yourself too much, which produces even more laziness and self-deprecation. But there can be trial and error as long as you find the perfect amount of self-care in terms of work ethic. If you are struggling with productivity as well, I wish the best of luck to you. You can do it.

j.j.

self-image

As it may have been evident, I've taken a long break from blogging. I didn't have any particular reason for doing so. In fact, I didn't even intend to. It just kind of happened. However, during this time I have done a lot of contemplating about things that go on in my life. I hope to use these ideas to make blog posts. Starting with this one. People aren't who they seem to be. I think everyone has an image of themselves in their heads and the people around them perceive them to be different than who they think they are. Perhaps not entirely different, but aspects that are slightly altered. For example, some might think that you are shy and antisocial but in your mind, you are proud of yourself for talking to three people in a day. Everyone in the world will have a different opinion on who you are and what I've learned is to not think too much about what they think. What matters most is who you think you are. Sure, you can certainly take advice from other people. But when it comes down to it, you have to make your own judgments about your own self. Nobody can take responsibility for your actions, appearance, personality, or beliefs. By following your own self-image and working to achieve one that you are satisfied with, you have to be true to yourself and not give in to society or other people's ideal image of you. It may be hard to follow what you want sometimes, but it can be done!

j.j.

...on being sick

Personally, I don't ever realize how grateful I am to be a healthy human being (well, as healthy as I am) until the times that I get sick. When I am sick, I feel sorry for myself and vow that I will do the best I can to take care of myself. But it seems that every time I get over being sick and I am back to my normal self, I forget about what it felt like to feel horrible and I continue to go through life without taking basic precautions, such as wearing the appropriate layers of clothing or getting the right amount of sleep. Today, I did not go to school due to my sickness, and I would just like to record my thoughts so that I can remember them instead of always forgetting how I feel afterward: taking care of yourself should be your first priority. Previously, my priorities were always work and success above all else. But now, I know that health matters the most. Without the ability to take care of oneself, how will other things in life get accomplished? By being in a healthy state—physically and mentally—everything will be able to be completed at a higher productivity rate. When I am an adult, I don't want a messed up sleep routine because I didn't get enough sleep during my teenage years. In a couple of years, the homework assignments that I didn't do won't matter. What matters is the person that I will become. I have to learn that it is okay to sacrifice not doing an assignment for better sleep. It is okay to not go to school for a day in order to re-energize. I would rather take care of myself in the long run than fret about things that won't matter in the future.

j.j.

[happy valentine's day!]

deep & meaningful

An important aspect of life that is often taken for granted is communication. Nowadays, in our society, we talk too much about nothing. (And our complaints...Why that could be a separate blog post!) Rarely do I see conversations that involve a deep exchange of words. Perhaps that's because of the setting that I'm always in; which is high school. But even then, I feel like high school is the prime time to think about the more paragraphical answers to life's questions. At this time, our brains are still developing and with meaningful conversations, it will only increase our growth. Partially, I feel like people are too judgmental. In many instances, I've seen students shorten the length of their answers during class discussions because they want to use up the least amount of air time as possible due to the fear of judgment. And it's clear when that is the case because you can see the critical looks between students when someone might be taking a more extensive route on explaining their answers. There should be no shame in explaining yourself thoroughly! I also believe that society has subconsciously forced us to make everything we do concise and to the point. There's always a shortcut. There's always some way that will get you the most success in the least amount of time. There is always going to be a more efficient way. And maybe that's a good thing in some circumstances. But I do not think that vital human connection should be the shortened version that you take. Today, someone said to me something along the lines of "just go talk to him. If you have all the cheat codes to the game, then what's the point?" And I really took that to heart. There are no cheat codes for simple communication. If you want to talk to someone, then just do it. Don't prepare with conversation starters found online or try to find information about them beforehand. (I'm guilty of both.) Even though communicating is so artificial nowadays, we can try to change that.

j.j.

making progress

One thing that I've learned throughout my years of being in school—this is not to say that I've followed through with this tip because I am such a procrastinator—is to not let things pile up. It's such a simple concept, yet so hard to put into action. (Unless you're one of those people who have amazing willpower, and for that I congratulate you. I'm not one of those people.) It takes me a while to get started on being productive for the day, and when I do, I work very slowly. But I have realized that even if you don't get something done in one sitting, it is best to start something early and keep on chipping away at it until you're finished rather than rushing to do it all the night before. And I guess it's something that can be applied to any situation, not just schoolwork. With anything; even if the progress is merely thinking about ideas or jotting a few notes down, it is still a step further than not doing anything about it at all. With that being said like I've mentioned, I'm a procrastinator. (I like to call myself a 'PROcrastinator'...get it?) However, I would like to stop rushing and starting making progress. Baby steps, am I right?

j.j.

...and life goes on!

There may have been a moment in your life where you—as Coldplay put it—try your best but you don't succeed. These moments can be stressful and nerve-wracking. You start to have thoughts of 'you aren't good enough', and, 'if only you put in that extra hour to study or an extra hour of practicing,' you might have made it. You might not have made the mistake. You might not have felt like a failure. But listen. That mistake you made doesn't define you. The world is still going on all around you. And there are only two options; to keep on going and not get left behind, or to get caught up in the remnants of lost hopes and missed dreams. Maybe you didn't get the score you wanted on a test. Or maybe you only got second place in the music competition. So, what? It may sound cliche´, but the thing that matters most is the effort that you put in. You gave it your best shot. And even if you didn't give it your best shot—maybe you were too busy focusing on other tests or you weren't even passionate about winning that competition but still felt bad about not—you still tried. I know that an 'E for effort' isn't what people want to hear, but just know that there are many more important things to fuss about than getting caught up on one bad thing that happened to you.

j.j.