by Rebekah Leonard | July, 2017 | Classroom Reflections
“In a relationship, when communication starts to fade, everything else follows.” Before Taking Positive Psychology I was not sure what to expect. I thought the class would be about how to have a more positive attitude and outlook on life. This class taught me many great things from breaking bad habits, hope, temperament, and personality, to FLOW, emotional behavior, and creativity. Positive psychology pushed me to look more within myself to find the things that may need a bit more work. An Ah-Ha moment for me was learning about HABITS. I have found myself in quite the rut as of late, and to study and learn about changing habits was very POSITIVE for me. I learned that habits are more than just the things we do day in and day out. Habits are behaviors that take little to no thought process. For example, like brushing our teeth or taking the same route to and from work every day. Habits can be as easy to break as they are to keep, it is merely whether you want to change or not. Make it a Habit to Engage in the Conversation Habits and communication go hand in hand. There is a statement I have heard in the past, “keep your ears open and your mouth shut”. “Communication skills are essential for empathizing with others, for understanding their concerns, and for setting the stage for interpersonal problem solving” (Carr, A Pg. 175). I am sure we all have had or tried to have, a conversation with the type of person that likes to rule the conversation, constantly cutting you off, or wanting...
by Tessa Hartness | July, 2017 | Classroom Reflections
“Be you, the world will adjust. -Unknown” Before my journey started in Positive Psychology, I really was unsure of what to expect. Things crossed my mind like happiness and how to live a bubbly lifestyle. I was curious if this information was going to be beneficial to me, and my quest to become a high school teacher or counselor. I wanted my perception to be open and just take the class to see how I could promote a more positive lifestyle for myself and others around me. A huge turning point in this course for me is known as the concept of FLOW. Achieving FLOW Through What You Love Alan Carr, the author of Positive Psychology, wrote, “FLOW is the subjective state that people report when they become engaged in controllable but challenging tasks or activities that require considerable skill and that is intrinsically motivating…” 1 . This is such a fascinating concept that humans reach through diverse manners. For instance, someone can achieve flow through writing in a journal, a meaningful conversation, competing in a sporting event, or various visual art activities, which happens to be one of my areas where I reach flow. This brings me to a state of peace where I can express myself fully. Painting Myself into the Picture of FLOW Acrylic painting is my preferred medium. Seeing the colors mix and creating perfect shades becomes a challenge that I have to figure out. Discovering how to add color in order to create tints and shades on the canvas is methodical and a bit overwhelming at times. Finding something to spark an idea is...
by Jennifer Fairlie | July, 2017 | Classroom Reflections
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit” Aristotle Before taking Positive Psychology I thought the class would be about methods to become more positive and to remain positive through many situations. I felt this would be a great course for me to help identify ways to become positive in situations that I find difficult and to maintain my positivity when I feel weak. Creating Habits and Finding the BoOST Although I have been told that I am a very positive person, I know that it is just an image that I show others. I feel discouraged more often than I admit. Personally, I wanted to find a way to improve this. After starting this class, I realized, although we did cover methods to get and stay positive, there is so much more than I thought there would be. We looked at how individuals operate and look at the world. There were think tank dicussions about importance of how habits make an impact on life and how having some pessimism is a good thing (only if it is to help us maintain realistic goals). We gave examples of how to increase our confidence levels through the FLOW process and how to boost self-esteem. This class turned out to not only be more effective than I thought it would but that there is much more that goes into having positivity in life than I originally thought. Positive Life – The Small Things Create the Whole My Ah-Ha moment was learning about how much habits have an impact on my life. I always knew...
by Daniela Erskine | July, 2017 | Classroom Reflections
“Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t” -Rikki Rogers Before Taking Positive Psychology I was not sure what to think about Positive Psychology. I truly thought it was going to be a class where we were going to learn to be more positive. Not in a million years did I think I was actually going to learn about things that I can use the feature to become a more positive and happy person. Building Strengths to Achieve Goals I had many Ah-Ha moments. However, the one that I remember and that I connected with the most is when we talked about focusing on our strengths. Before taking this class, I always tried to do my best but when things did not happen how I wanted it to, I would be very disappointed and discouraged. I spent more time focusing on what did not go as planned rather than on what did. We did one class activity where we changed a small habit or create a new habit. Doing this exercise showed me that taking small steps and focusing on what I can do and change actually helped me achieved my goals. When I focused on my strengths and on what I had accomplished every day, whether it was big or small, and celebrate those accomplishments, I felt better. Additionally, I was able to get to my end goal as supposed to just looking at the big picture and getting down when I wasn’t accomplishing my goal. Using Strengths to Build a More Positive Life Positive Psychology opened...
by Liza Cline | July, 2017 | Classroom Reflections
“Don’t Forget to Fall In Love With Yourself First” Before I started this course, I began to brainstorm and had quite the collage of thoughts going through my head. Can you teach an old dog new tricks? If so, how? With so many different predictions, I didn’t really have a clue on what I will be learning or steps to train my brain into another thought process and a constant positive one at that. I was excited, yet curious of this subject as I have never really looked outside or stepped over the boundary I unknowingly set for myself. I was anxious to learn how I could possibly change my attitude which could in-turn change someone else’s. Although this may sound corny since this was a positive psychology class, I was actually positive about taking this class. Filling the Empty Space with Self-love An Ah-Ha moment for me was learning about self-love and everything that goes along with it that puts you in the forefront. With so much going on in my daily life, I always tend to put myself on the back burner while I make everyone else happy. Although, I do make feel good about myself to see others smile (family, friends and coworkers), I kind of have that little empty space of myself. I sometimes felt that it would be selfish of me to think I needed anything, but in reality, I was only suffocating myself without even knowing. This had led to more negative things, added stress, less patience just to name a few. So to think about myself in a different light with the...
by Tiffany Balance | June, 2017 | Classroom Reflections
“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.” – Lucille Ball Before taking the class I was thinking that this class is going to be about being “fufu happy”. The kind of happy that is all about rainbows and unicorns. The kind that would make everyone think that you are high on something. Worthy of my own Love An Ah-Ha moment for me was learning about…..Self-love. I truly believe that when you love yourself, then everything else will come along. You will be confident, compassionate, optimistic, just to name a few. If there are things in your life that you want to change, if you love yourself enough to see that it’s worth the change, then it will be easier to be committed to change. You can’t be confident in anything if you’re not confident in yourself. I remember watching Iyanla: Fix my life. It was about the rapper DMX. He used drugs and while doing so he had hurt his family. His son expressed that he wanted to feel like a priority in his dad’s life. He gave his dad an ultimatum that it was either him or drugs. He told his dad that this would be the last time that he would ask. If it was a no, then he will not be part of his life. I thought for sure he would pick his son, but he chose drugs. I don’t understand why people turn to drugs, but I do believe that it has to do with self-love. If you are confident in...