Integration 1 Word Count: 1335 Finding My Authentic Self: Root Beliefs Week 8 - Integration One I believe that kindness is always beautiful. I am a huge people-person. I love being around people, getting to know people, and making people feel joy. The happiest moments in my life include being with people I love or helping others. While I have always known I was an extrovert, The VIA Survey of Character Strengths (https://www.viacharacter.org/character-strengths-via - Moreau FYE Week Two) showed me how kindness can be and is one of my strengths. After taking the survey, my top strengths include kindness, gratitude, teamwork, and appreciation of beauty and excellence. Not only did I learn my strengths, but I also learned about some of my weaknesses including humility, love, and bravery. This helped me to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of my true self. This also helped me to better understand what David Brooks said in his YouTube video that the humble side of our nature is built by fighting our weaknesses using our strengths (“David Brooks: Should you live for your resume...or your eulogy” (https://youtu.be/MlLWTeApqIM) - Moreau FYE Week Two). I now know that being kind is not only a large part of my strength and personality, but also can help me to grow my weaknesses to live a more beautiful, purposeful life. I hope to use the knowledge of my strengths to identify and appreciate myself more as well as to aid in my continuous journey of self-growth. I believe that everything happens for a reason. This idea has changed my perspective entirely. This statement is something that has helped me face challenges as it has shown me that there is purpose in everything, even the hardest of times. I often connect this root belief of purpose to my faith. In the article “Faith Brings Light to a Dark World” by David Fagerberg, he explains that “Faith, hope, and love adjust the lighting of our life so that we look beyond ourselves to see God” (https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the- faith/belief/faith-brings-light-to-dark- world/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau - Moreau FYE Week Three). Fagerberg explains that faith, hope, and love allow us to look at God and the world differently. Having faith allows me to identify that there is purpose in everything through God. Trusting in the purpose of God has helped me to experience life with a greater sense of self- purpose and gratitude. Trusting in my own purpose through God helps me to consider good and bad experiences in a more positive light. Being able to have a more positive mindset has helped me to enjoy life so much more. This is similar to the message of Carla Ann Harris in her Laetare Medalist Address as she stated, “view every setback and disappointment as a lesson. A lesson that may be one of the most important things that you learn for that season in your life” https://www.viacharacter.org/character-strengths-via https://youtu.be/MlLWTeApqIM https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/belief/faith-brings-light-to-dark-world/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/belief/faith-brings-light-to-dark-world/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/belief/faith-brings-light-to-dark-world/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau (https://youtu.be/UjSwjn-SyB4 - Moreau FYE Week Five). When I first arrived at Notre Dame, everyone was open about the fact that there will be challenges, but they also emphasized the amount of support that exists here and that everything works out in the end. It is easy to get caught up in negativity or comparison. However, I hope to continue to use this perspective to help me to not only find and enjoy all the opportunities that my time at Notre Dame offers, but to also help others in positively changing their perspective. I believe that communication is key to healthy, successful relationships. Throughout the many relationships I have had, communication is an important factor in each of them. Communication allows both parties to better understand each other and to be able to work through the relationship especially during tough times. This understanding has a lot to do with the fact that communication allows people to be more vulnerable. Brené Brown stated in her Ted Talk that wholehearted people form deeper connections because they can be vulnerable with those around them (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown (https://youtu.be/L0ifUM1DYKg) - Moreau FYE Week One). Often the reason my own relationships or the relationships of those around me fail is due to a lack of communication that impacts the connection within the relationship. Olivia T. Taylor explains in her article “5 Signs You’re in a Toxic Friendship” that “a good, healthy friendship is one where two people are mutually growing and on a path toward becoming better people” (https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ - Moreau FYE Week Four). Communication is vital in letting both people grow within themselves and within the relationship while also being able to find joy in each other. However, communication is easier said than done. I often give people the advice of honesty and openness, but I do not always follow it myself. I have a fear of failure that is reflected in my relationships. I sometimes fear that telling the truth or responding to people the wrong way will lead to a failure in the relationship or a loss of the relationship entirely. To avoid this fear, I often do not respond or take a long time in doing so. In the future, I hope to grow in my own communication skills as it will improve my relationships and reduce stress. I believe that hard work always pays off. I believe myself to be a hard-working person. I always love to be doing something and I feel the most productive when I am actively working or involved in something. My work ethic is a large reflection of the experiences and environments that I grew up in. In the “Where I’m From” poem from week 6, I discussed the traits that I gained from many parts of my life including family and sports. My parents are two of the most hard-working people I know. My dad is always out working with the goal of helping our family. While he is heavily involved in his own work, he is also heavily involved and on top of all of my family's finances and activities. My mom is a workaholic. She never stops working whether it is in her office or around the house. My work ethic is inspired by my parents and was fostered in the activities that I participated in, especially when I did gymnastics. I did gymnastics for 10 years starting at the age of 4. Gymnastics was an unforgiving sport that taught me how to fall but also how to get back up. It https://youtu.be/UjSwjn-SyB4 https://youtu.be/L0ifUM1DYKg https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ requires a ton of hard work with the constant goal of perfection. Both my family and my sports (especially gymnastics) have caused me to value hard work and to strive for perfection in all that I do. Through hard work, I have found success in the form of relationships, awards, or being able to learn a lesson from the experience. However, I sometimes struggle to find a balance and put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect. This pressure causes me to often want to control things around me. I hope to work towards finding a healthy balance in my life regarding work and appreciating the beauty in imperfection. I believe that all people should be accepted and loved. Everyone is a human being that should receive basic rights and respect. I believe that everyone was put on this earth for their own unique purpose. I go through life with the mentality that everyone has something going on even if they do not look like they are on the outside, so everyone should be treated with kindness and respect. However, everyone is implicitly biased. Implicit bias “sets people up to overgeneralize, sometimes leading to discrimination even when people feel they are being fair.” These biases are formed by our brain functions that cause humans to identify patterns and form generalizations (“How to Think about ‘Implicit Bias’” by Keith Payne, Laura Niemi, and John M. Doris (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how- to-think-about-implicit-bias/) - Moreau FYE Week 7). This article has made me realize that even though I think of myself as aware and accepting of others, I have implicit biases. I hope to use this awareness to identify and eliminate implicit biases I have in the future. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-think-about-implicit-bias/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-think-about-implicit-bias/