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Recently, I made the mistake of making one of my best friends mad at me. Of course I have my opinions about what happened and so does she but you can’t play the blame game forever. That’s when I realized I needed to just step back and take a look at what happened. Thinking that I had said something jokingly was actually an upsetting subject for her (lets call her K). When I actually saw her fighting back the tears that she wanted to release but was so hurt that she couldn’t even say anything, i knew there needed to be a change. My conclusion was it was both of our faults and that I really did something to make her upset. After apologizing and making up, I vowed never to do what I did again. I am starting to learn from my mistakes.

Its not easy at all. Accepting that you are wrong is sometimes the hardest thing you have to do. Especially for me, I usually never change my opinions. But because my friend K is so special to me, I decided to admit my faults.

Learning from mistakes you have made can be used in so many different aspects of your life. In the classroom- finding out the questions you got wring on a test and finding the correct answers. At home- your parents yelling at you for leaving a wet towel on your bed and having your phone taken away. Yeah true story . But it really makes you  reflect and decide what you could do better the next time around. Eventually, I needed to start asking myself personal questions on reflecting on the past and being ready to build off of it. These are good examples of what I though about:

Are you willing to work through the failures, the trials and errors to get to profits? Can you accept the fact that you are going to need to fail a lot to learn? You will of course win a lot as well and the winners will add up to a great income over time, but in the process you are going to fall down sometimes, get some bruises.. can you keep going through that?

I love how this one blogger puts it, “but in the process you are going to fall down sometimes, get bruises..” Its as if the bruises are left behind to show you what you went through with, and the scar as to why you will never do it again. As my friend Lia said it, “I think trial and error is a very big part of learning, but only what you did this time but like what you do when you are older.”In this case it would be about my friend K so that if I ever come into this situation again, I won’t leave the unspoken awkwardness and anger left unspoken. I will know to apologize right away.

To me, finding out different ways to learn is so important. It opens up your views of the world and people and can turn you into a more knowledgeable expressive person. And learning through your own mistakes is both progressive and inspirational, being able to admit that you are wrong.

In my effort to stop myself from making this king of mistake again, is there anything else that I could do or that I should have done? I never want to be put in a situation like this again. If you have any types of experiences like this, how did you overcome them or how are you facing them? Just because you are working on learning from your own challenges and experiences and it is hard for you, doesn’t mean you have it do it alone.

I have terrible habits. I bite my nails, tap my feet, chew on my pencil, the list goes on and on. But, there is one that bothers me more than all the rest. Its my constant reaction when put on the spot to say “like” every other word, making it difficult for both me and my “crowd” to understand what I’m saying. The harder I try to stop saying it, the more frequently I stutter and say, “like it’s like when like, you know like, um like uh like, what was I like saying again?” Its extremely embarrassing and it makes me feel stupid. As if I am one of those “dumb blonde” girls who are on some other planet all together. I NEED TO LEARN HOW TO GET OVER THIS HABIT!

Being in an honors class is difficult enough with the work and the constant critical thinking. To me its important to feel as though you belong in that class once your in there. Because of my habit, Ive learned to put my thoughts and feeling on paper, and if necessary, know what I was going to say before hand. But one particular day (it was bound to happen sometime) I was put on the spot and asked to explain my views on a question. Lets just say it was a total disaster. By the end of my confusing rant, the look of my fellow classmates suggested I was from another planet. Great. With my second thoughts on if I should stay in the same class, let alone the same school, I needed to learn how to stop my horrible habit. Also, I need to learn how to redeem myself. It got me thinking on why I say like so frequently. That is how I found one answer.

Habits, by their nature are comfortable and easy to slip into. Bad habits have a way of doing that – getting easier. Bad habits are a lot like drugs, they’re addictive and you find a way to rationalize them.

This answer tells me that all hope is lost because I am addicted to saying like. Double great.

This blog may seem comical but it is both a cry for help and an assignment. I need help and if anybody could tell me a past habit and their method for breaking it I could really use some ideas. I need to learn to get over this and stop “like” from ruining my talking abilities.

Teamwork. Dedication. Working towards a common goal. These are all things that I learn when im on the soccer field. I learn how to make plays, be apart of a team, find out different solutions for getting passed that one defender. I learn everyday to be stronger than i ever was before, pushing myself more and more every time I push up against that one girl who still scares you deep inside. Yes, as a soccer player you learn to get over your fears, face them even- if its playing for the first time since you got that ligament torn or coming up from the ground after getting a concussion. Ive found out through this whole process of “learning” that this is how I do my best. I need to do it, say it, believe it, and work for it.

I was never a really good student. I enjoy english class but that and soccer right now are the only things that defines me. And im okay with that. I don’t try and live up to many peoples standards anymore. And with soccer, its the best place for me to do that. Sure there may be cliques but i learned to keep my all of my friends close to me. Ive learned to stay far away from drama because that is one thing(as well as injuries) that tears a team apart.

“We trained hard, but it seemed every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency and demoralization.” Gaius Petronus, Roman General

This quote is a good example of what can happen on any team; sports, work, school, anything. It is bad when a team splits up into separate groups with unsaid tensions and grudges. Once that happens you must step back, evaluate the situation and “reorganize” Talk through your problems because if you do not, chaos will occur as well as errors in your work. I learned this the hard way, as once our soccer team became so “clique- ish” that it was like a machine working without the right parts. For me and on the field, this is an example of a BAD LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.

This writer and worker, Kristen Arnold knows about teamwork, learning from your peers, and the repercussions of “bad environments”. With the ideas she has, my mind feels like it is able to learn on the field once again. That is, after all the kinks are worked out.

How i think. . .supposedly i use the right side of my brain. Im more of a hands on type of leaner. I do a lot better when I can actually visualize  my task and see how I have to approach  breaking the material down. It also helps me if i work with people. I like the feeling of comparing and contrasting the ideas that we all have. That way we find out a better answer after talking about it as well as getting away from being single- minded and “willing to be disturbed”.

I feel pretty bad for Grendel. He is such an outcast and the worst part is he didn’t do anything to deserve it. When he expresses his ideas in the book it all makes a lot of sense. Especially the part about humans. He realizes and almost studies mans flaws and learns from it. He knows our wrongs and actions and their consequences. To be able to realize so much about a culture and be considered a monster is pretty awesome to me.