by Lynn Soots | January, 2016 | Classroom Reflections, Education
Before Taking Positive Psychology my thoughts about the course were skeptical, I didn’t think that I would be able to keep up with the work and the assignment but I manage to do okay. Being a full time mom and working full time, I really have to discipline myself to find time to do class work. I thought that this class was going to consist of a bunch of studies from old philosophers and psychologist. I love the psychology field in all aspects, but this class by far has been my favorite so far. This class requires you to think outside the box; it so hands-on even though it is online. My reason for taking positive psychology was to help myself become a more positive person. I recently had a lot of thing happen in my life that I have no control over which cause me to feel depressed and down a lot. So my hope before taking this class was to somehow use the knowledge from this class to help myself mentally. From the inside An ah-ha moment for me was learning about what really creates happiness; truly the only person that can make you happy is yourself. We have the power to control our own thought to being more positive. Instead of thinking you are always being affected by things and circumstance around you, you can change your thought pattern about the situation or circumstance. Happiness is an inside job that requires work to be done in other words you has to work on changing your outlook on things. Centering the see-saw Positive Psychology opened my eyes...
by Lynn Soots | January, 2016 | Classroom Reflections, Education
I was not sure what I expected for this course because I never heard of it so I did not really have thoughts about it. When we began the first week’sreading assignments, exercises and questions, it became clear of what this course was about. An Ah-Ha moment for me was learning about: Positive Self Positive Self focuses on the self as an object and as a subject. Carr says that these two aspects of the self are constructed under social, cognitive, behavioral, and narrative psychology . . . self agent theme is to central theories in the evolutionary theory that highlights the biological aspect (234). This chapter really put into perspective of how we view ourselves and how we are designed/strive to be. Positive Psychology opened my eyes to: The journal exercises made a huge impact for several reasons and I keep talking about them but it really stuck with me or should I say, I had an ah-ha moment–Coming up with new habits is really simple but actually following through is the hard part. Over the semester we utilized the journals provided to us to track our habits and how we can create/break habits. The science of coming up with the plans was tricky because it forced me to really think about my habit, my reason for it, the plan of action, following through, and journaling it. Each step took effort and time. As I always say, I never really have time to stop and reflect, this exercise forced me to reflect on my poor habits and good habits. My poor habits were easy to pick out but...
by Lynn Soots | January, 2016 | Classroom Reflections, Education
“True wisdom is knowing what you don’t know” —Confucius A reflection of the journey As I reflect on this journey, I can’t help but feel a profound sense of accomplishment and relief. As with all of my previous courses, I jumped in with an open-mind and I attempted to make the most out of this opportunity to grow. This may come as a shock to some but I actually enjoy learning and I make no apologies for this. My initial thoughts coming into this class were mostly favorable due to the course content and the professor’s ability to connect with her students. I had never heard of the term “Positive Psychology” but I had been exposed to and even taught many of the lesson concepts we explored during this term. More than anything, I wanted to see how others view the world and attempt to understand their actions, decisions, and behaviors when life happens. I would argue that most rational people can remain positive when things are going well and life stressors are near non-existent (i.e. financial, relationship, legal, etc…). This becomes much more challenging when an individual is faced with loss, such as the death of a loved one, or they are on the receiving end of negative feedback for performance. My goal throughout this course was to observe how cultural norms influenced an individual’s response to stress and learn about different coping methods to remain resilient throughout a stressful situation. I am at an advantage because I have taught many of these lesson concepts; however, learning doesn’t stop at comprehension of the terminology. It is amazing what...
by Lynn Soots | January, 2016 | Classroom Reflections, Education
“You are essentially who you create yourself to be and all that occurs in your life is the result of your own making.” ― Stephen Richards When I made the decision to enroll in this class as opposed to a different one, it was because I was struggling with dealing with a lot of stuff at work and at home and I was having a hard time with my attitude. I was starting to notice that stress was taking over my life and I knew that my workload at work was going to drastically increase while my free time to unwind was going to decrease. I felt like this course would help me with dealing with those things and give me some good techniques to do so. I’ve taken courses with Professor Soots before, so I knew what to expect with the course load and that I would learn some awesome ways to help with keeping a positive attitude. It comes from within An Ah-Ha moment for me was learning about intrinsic motivation versus extrinsic motivation and the benefits of intrinsic motivation. It was really eye-opening learning about how important intrinsic motivation, as opposed to extrinsic motivation, is in changing your habits. It is also incredibly important in keeping a positive attitude about the tasks I’m completing. Intrinsic motivation is important because it helps keep you happy about what you’re doing and it helps you focus more on the benefits of the task you’re accomplishing as opposed to the rewards of actually completing it. Learning about intrinsic...
by Lynn Soots | January, 2016 | Classroom Reflections, Education, self-development
“I am in charge of how I feel and today I am choosing happiness.” Before Taking Positive Psychology my thoughts about the course were: I thought the course was going to talk about positivity within a person and how to avoid negativity in a person’s life. Though I also thought to my self what if the course was about things deeper then just positivity within the mind. Maybe it was going to be about something completely off topic. Luckily I was wrong about my second theory. The course stayed right on track with the word Positive. I think this was the perfect timing in my life to take this course. Specifically for personal reasons as well as it correlating with my Health and Stress Psychology class. An Ah-Ha moment for me was learning about what FLOW meant. When reading the textbook when the word FLOW appeared I was a bit confused at first, I thought maybe the word FLOW was going to mean something of more complicated to the subject. Little did I expect it to mean it is something that I absolutely love to endure and puts me on cloud nine every time I have that experience. After understanding the meaning I realized and even said “Ah-Ha” in my head when I said this sentence out loud. “Don’t mess up my flow babe.” Now I fully understand the expression I tend to use a lot with my husband. Meaningful engagement in happiness—daily Positive Psychology opened my eyes to the happiness I need to appreciate in my life as well as changing habits in my life to gain even...
by Lynn Soots | January, 2016 | Classroom Reflections, Education
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act but a habit.” Before Taking Positive Psychology my thoughts about the course were that positive psychology was about being happy and looking at the brighter side to life. I thought positive psychology was about sharing your happiness with others so that they could be happy too; I proved myself wrong. Positive psychology is not just about being happy or being optimistic, it’s more than that. It’s about living a meaningful life that influences those around us and the world we live in. It’s about making a contribution that benefits you and those around you. An Ah-ha moment for me An Ah-Ha moment for me was learning about habits and how to commit to them. In the book, “Habits of Happiness”, the author talks about habits and the three categories they fall under. Habits can simple and instinctual to the point where we don’t even notice do them, habits can be good for us, habits can be bad for us; our habits influence our behavior. Specifically, the book focused on how bad habits can influence bad behaviors. For example, if I were to eat ice cream today and every single day, a habit of eating ice cream forms. Personally, when I eat ice cream, it is late at night. I am slouching on the couch and getting ready for bed. When I wake up in the morning to get ready for work, I am sluggish and my energy is low. I noticed also that when I eat ice cream every day I begin to gain more weight and my...
