Well this year was certainly a rollercoaster, well at least I think it was. I feel like there are many ways we can cover it and go on to say negative things about the year 2020/21, but sometimes we have to look further than what we can actually see or think. I don't want this to seem like a reflection of the past year, or a way to feel sympathy as a grad of 2021, but I want this to give me the occasion to let me tell you my story. So there are many things that each individual goes through as we have our own life's to live, and we often pass through events that are meant to be in our lives. When those events occur, did you ever ask yourself what they meant for you, like their purpose? I guess you could call this a type of self-relfection which is the key to self-awareness. Through this practice we are able to look at ourselves with interest and curiosity. In my opinion I only self reflect after a year, doesn't have to be on paper or verbally said, but we could eventually take a step back on life and take a moment to spot out some positive impacts and be grateful about them. This past year for me was very hard to handle. I had a lot on my plate, emotions pouring out, friendships tearing apart, family disconnection, fear of being alone, and much more. And that's just barely touching the surface on some things. And you may have noticed but those were negative aspects of the past year. Now that is something I hate doing but it's natural to spot negative things as we humans are really good at doing that. Let’s put that aside for a moment and focus on the positive parts of the past year. For me I did not have school until February as the schedule changed for school. I had so much spare time to focus on my own health like my knee pain, and my dance training as it is important for me to get on top of it and take care of it. It also gave me time to really focus on my dance auditions for university applications. Now seeing that I had so much spare time I am glad I spent it well. Looking back at it and seeing my actions well chosen I feel a sense of completion or success and that creates motivation for me. I hope I'm not the only one who feels like this when they appreciate that their effort pays off. I am so grateful that this year became an eye opener, as I realized who my real best-friends were and who weren't. I guess it can be really hard for you to realize that a best friend of yours is gone in no time, but the reality can be harsh, right? Well I mean nothing comes so easy. Nothing in your life is not guaranteed to be there tomorrow, including those you love. Life can be full of hard life lessons to learn, but it may be the most important of all: Life can change in an instant. Make sure you appreciate what you have, while you still have it. Amélie G
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As people nowadays we feel we need the comfort of others especially when you’re going through a tough time. It honestly took me a while to realise how much covid is affecting our world, talking about people who are in the hospitals. I was recently in the hospital for a surgery and I could only see my mom, which I’m not complaining about but I couldn’t see my dad or my brother that I hadn’t seen in a few days. They’re keeping as many people out of the hospital so that we can keep our cases the same or even lower. For me, experiencing what some people have everyday, like maybe they don’t even get to see one person because of their health condition, was very hard to think about. Noticing how important it is to keep your distance and follow all the covid guidelines that we are given so that these people are able to have company and not feel like they are trapped in one place especially care homes. The comfort of others, especially family members is a big part of peoples lives when they’re not at their best. Another thing that I started noticing more than before is how lucky I am to have my family and be able to be healthy. Sometimes I forget about the little things in my life that I am grateful for because I feel like it’s normal for everyone when it’s not. I am so grateful that my surgery went well and that I have good doctors on my case who are trying to figure out what’s wrong so they can help me. I knew that doctors were very caring for their patients and that they always do everything they can, to help you. I just didn’t realise all the things they go through in order to figure out what’s happening and how to help. I am so thankful for the amount of nurses we have for everyone that has covid, because all of the people taking care of them are making sure that they are comfortable, other than the fact they don’t feel well which they are trying to help with. Taking a few good things out of a bad thing that has happened made me realise that I am privileged and I should be grateful for that especially for the health care I received. Now I have started writing what I am grateful for every morning because I never really realise what have until I write it down because then the thought stays. Writing down what I’m grateful for makes my day better because then I am uplifted and I am more calm once I realise the little things in my life that matter. 2020 has not been my family's year, my moms work burnt down, my dad had a heart attack and then I had surgery. But one thing that has gone well is how my brother was drafted to the Kelowna rockets. Within everything, your family or your school life, you realise there is always something good. I challenge you to take one thing out of everything in your life that may have gone wrong and for you to find something good about it, no matter the situation, there is always going to be something good. If you haven’t had anything bad recently then think about something good that happened and why you are so happy that it happened. Sometimes it just takes a bit to realise it but once you do, it becomes something that lifts you up and keeps you positive no matter what is going on in your life. Taking a step back and seeing everything, everyone and the privileges we have can really change the way we see life. I found writing things down stuck with me longer, but maybe for you it stays a different way, everyone is different in the way that they have different interests and experiences.
https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/490828-no-visitors-allowed-we-need-humane-hospital-policy-during-covid-19 http://minimalistathome.com/yucky-stuff/ Tyler L. If you have a sibling you know the ups and downs of having to manage fights and arguments. You may also understand what it's like to be selfless and more sympathetic. Connected by blood siblings understand one another even if they are years apart. My sibling is my twin sister Hunter. When we were born, Hunter had no problems, but I did. I had Aortic Stenosis which is a heart condition that deals with how your valves pump blood to your heart. I had to get surgery only 24 hours after I was born. It was hard for my parents but they knew the doctors would take good care of me. Fast forward to the age of three, I had to have open heart surgery. I had what's called a ROSS procedure which took my existing aortic valve which is almost right in the centre, and replaced it with a healthy valve. Today my sister and I still wonder if this would have happened to her and not me. Of course who knows what would happen if she was in my position. I had been on medication called enalapril for my whole life up until last year. The Valve I had in my body at the age of three still pumps blood perfectly today. Without the need for medicine! My sister is one of my best friends, she is kind, smart and outgoing. I think about what life would be like without a twin. It’s scary. If you had a choice to have siblings or not, which would you choose? Now, being a fraternal twin does have an advantage to how my sister and I are not identical. We do NOT look exactly alike. Though we still have similarities in facial features and tiny ears, we are different people. If you have an older sibling who you see has been successful and smart. That is what you’d want for yourself. That motivation to be like them rubs off on you. If you have a sibling that is not as successful and skips class and fails many of their courses, that may not be the kind of person you’d want to look up to. Family is family, when I see that my sister is feeling sad or angry, I usually just sit on her bed and wait to see if she would want to talk. Siblings are there for each other through the good times in life, and the hard times. It’s important to acknowledge that keeping a close bond with your siblings is important for the future as we grow up. My grandfather and his brother had an argument over something that was powerful enough to have them not speak to each other for 10 years. They only just spoke in person for the first time this past summer since their dispute. They are on good terms as it is now, I could never imagine not speaking to my sister for that long over some silly argument. My grandfather told me he really enjoyed speaking to his brother again and wishes he had done it sooner. Though siblings fight and can hate each other at times. That hatred towards them can’t last forever. Think about how much you would miss your sibling if something bad happened to them and you left things on bad terms? If you think about your siblings or sibling, when was the last time you told them you loved them? I think being a twin is an advantage in some way because the age is the same and by having similar friends through elementary school and high school, has brought us closer as sisters. Sharing with one another about our day is also a great way of how we connect with each other. Life can throw you curveballs just like the one I got thrown at the age of three. My sister was with me through it all. My grandfather regrets how long it was to have no contact with his brother, I know that he wishes he could get those years back. The connections we make in our lives and the people we meet can come and go. Siblings are with you for life, whether you like it or not. Riley M
It is safe to say that everyone complains at least once a day. It’s human nature to seek more than we are given; to some extreme, this quality embedded in us creates deep greed. Everyone wants private yachts and Bentleys, even if they have perfectly functioning Kia cars and comfy economy plus seats on a plane. People tend to get so caught up in the whelm of materialism that has been brought upon most first world countries, that they get blindsided from the simple stuff that they should be more than grateful for. A memory foam mattress and pillow, along with a plush blanket and central heating on a chilly winter night is a privilege that we are granted on a daily basis, though seem to regard as normalcy and a life dependent necessity. The disregarding of such privileges demonstrates how UNGRATEFUL we are for all that we have. I guess the emphasis put on the fact that kids are starving in Africa is not enough for us to value the luxurious lives that we live in comparison to millions. Last month, I traveled to Ludhiana, Punjab, located in the northern India, to volunteer at a hospital. I had only traveled to India a few times prior to this trip, and hadn’t traveled to this particular city in over a decade. When you google the city “Ludhiana,” you will find that it is the largest industrial city in the state of Punjab. As expected the architecture and the overall city development was sub-par to a western city. I arrived at the hospital and found it to be a safe and clean medical institution that put holistic patient care before money. What made me reflective of the luxurious life that I live were the patients whose cases I got to work on, and the families behind them. On my first day in the Paediatrics Unit, I got to meet Golu, a four year old patient who had a fever of 102 degrees F and a haemoglobin level of 1, which resulted in a low white blood cell count. After running a few tests, we discovered that he was anemic and had Thalassemia Major. Later that day, two residents and I spoke to his mother and got consent to complete a Bone Marrow Aspiration (a blood sampling procedure) through which we could run further tests and see if his disease was genetic. The mother carried Golu to the Procedure Room and waited directly outside the door with her younger daughter. Golu’s family was rural; his parents were illiterate and simply wanted us to do what we deemed fit to save their son. Over the days following the procedure, I would periodically check on Golu and track his progress; he appeared to be getting stronger everyday. On my last day at the hospital, word was that Golu was to soon be discharged. Alongside our attending, the residents and I met with Golu’s father to discuss his son’s recovery plan and discharge, also suggesting that his daughter complete a blood test to detect pre-Thalassemia. Thalassemia isn’t something that goes away on its own; it requires frequent blood transfusions, and to cure the disease, a bone marrow transplant is needed. Golu’s father admitted that the family didn’t have enough money for Golu’s extended procedures and the tests for his daughter, in fact, barely enough to pay the flat hospital fees. The next day, I got on a plane back to Vancouver and never found out what happened to Golu and his family. I constantly relive the time during Golu’s initial procedure when I sat with him listening to “the wheels on the bus” as an attempt to distract him from the procedure and stop his crying. The sad reality is that people can’t afford to treat their sick children, leave alone put them through school and provide them with three nutritious meals a day. Financial inability is the cause of many patients leaving the hospital untreated, having signed LAMA (Leaving Against Medical Advice) forms to be discharged so that the hospital would not be held accountable if anything was to happen to the patient beyond the facility. Due to illiteracy, many patients and their families were unable to comprehend that certain diseases were fatal. However, these patients would come into clinics and seek medication to take home instead of hospital admittance and treatment, because among the 28 million people living in the state of Punjab, almost 9% live below the poverty line. Patients would rather their diagnosis and a round of medication instead of scans and procedures because they couldn’t afford to put themselves up in a hospital. What this experience taught me was that you can build nicer malls and construct new highways, but in no way will this “development” help sick people that can’t afford medical treatment. Education is costly, especially in third world countries where it is less accessible. To get a sustainable job, you require an education. To pay your bills you need a job. How is a kid like Golu supposed to get an education, and later on find a job to support himself and his future family, when his household’s income is going entirely to not even fully funding his medical treatment? The cycle is never ending. Be grateful of what you have, because the vast majority of people in developing countries can barely make ends meet. Eliminate the materialism from society and reflect on the basic necessities that we take for granted every second of everyday, because kids like Golu can only dream of them. Janeva S Greatful, grateful, gr8full, No word of a lie when i started writing my gratitude journal I had to look up how to spell Grateful- 1. feeling or showing an appreciation of kindness; thankful Great-full made more sense to me, full of great right? But I guess that gave me some ammunition for my first entry right? Because what the hell do I have to actually be greatful- there I go again (that is an actual typo) GRATEFUL for. Slowly but surely following Julie Boyer’s steps I ended up finding things every day, big things or small things.Things started popping up around me that I had never taken the time to notice that they were there or that I used them every day. A great pair of sunglasses became a 5 line rant in my journal, a note from my wife written on the window, my kid picking up something that I dropped… But then I started listening to some podcasts and was slammed every day with other peoples stories. Living in the ghetto in Connecticut, growing up 6 people in a 2 bedroom house, nope not my life. Sister with Downs Syndrome that had to be legally separated from her father because he could not take proper care of her and she should not have been living in an institution. Privileged Hollywood upbringing that was exposed to drugs once they got to university culminating in a two hour story on how deep and dark that rabbit hole is. I’m going to go ahead and say 100% I have EVERYTHING to be grateful for no matter how I spell it. Look around the room that you are in and take 5 minutes a day to realize how lucky we are for even the smallest thing. I mean… I’m writing this on a computer I own, in the back of my classroom, teaching a course and a group of kids that I love. Today I’m grateful for that... ha finally, nailed it, grateful. Richard Hortness 20 gratitude quotes from famous people |
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