Key Positive Psychological Constructs - Essay Example

REFLECTIVE JOURNAL June 3, Wednesday I wonder what it means to be free, what it means to fall in love and what it means to be happy. There are those who tell me that satisfaction is the most subjective emotion of all, which at a certain extent is true. I am starting to think of ways on how to become happy. I am hoping that one day I will be as happy as many people in the world. As William Shakespeare in his popular work “All the Worlds a Stage” would put it: “all the men and women are merely players.” For now, I am not happy yet, but I think time will come that I will be grateful of what I have become. June 5, 2010 Saturday Everyone wants to have the freedom to do the things they want to do, this is because everyone abides in the principle of pursuit of happiness. In happiness, humans find glory, peace and freedom. What does it need to be happy? Does a person need to be rich? Strong? Influential? I believe it is more than that. There are those who have everything in life, yet they are not happy. And there are those who could not eat three times a day but are pretty satisfied with their lives. Take for example the people in Middle East, they are being threatened by wars every day. Death, starvation and fear are common elements of their day to day lives, but they could still manage to dream of a bright future for them and for their families (Burke, 1993). Whenever I hear success stories of people from Middle East in television, I realize that life’s problems could be overcome by aspiration and willingness to succeed. June 8, 2010 Tuesday It’s Tuesday already, prior to my critical point of realization: I was less of an ordinary person. There was nothing exciting in my life. I worked to eat, I ate to live and I lived because I had to. While it is true that humans mature as they grow, I thought that I was just going to stay psychologically and socially stunted for the rest of my life. I always wonder why soldiers sent to the most dangerous parts of the world still manage to laugh, play cards and drinks with their friends while on battle. Perhaps this is one of the tangible proofs that life is about psychological mindset and perception towards the world (Harris, 1992, p.185). June 9, 2010 Wednesday I write for a major newspaper in one of the most progressive cities in the world. My editor once said that I was one of the best writers she ever met, and that I would be a very successful author someday. I really could not tell whether she was lying or not. Well, I don’t have the capability to tell other people’s emotions, feelings and sentiments. I do not have that much friends. While my readers keep on sending electronic mail to appreciate my articles, I was in my room thinking of the next day’s article, not minding whatever the readers tell me. I think that so long as I get my assignments done, then I do not have any responsibilities to respond to people’s sentiments and reactions toward my works and my personality. I really think I have to change my behavior. June 11, 2010 Friday Life is definitely bitter, but obviously I would not be able to compare it to other people’s lives, not until I went to a seminar regarding “Positive Psychological Constructs.” People in that seminar were really nice. They were telling me all the good things that could happen to my life once I start opening myself to the world. They talked about positive perception, optimism and tolerance for ambiguity. Basically, they were talking about almost everything regarding human’s existence, which makes a lot of sense for me. I am starting to be happy now. Hopefully this will go on. June 13, 2010 Sunday Today I realized that there are a lot of other people out there. They have been there even before I was born but maybe I have been very distant from them. No one could isolate himself from the rest of the world all his life. Even the strongest individuals need other people to survive. This world is about common understanding and interests between people. Without the help of other people, a person would never succeed in his life (Spanier, 1974, p.323). June 16, 2010 Wednesday Today, I am really happy. I am starting to feel like there is light at the end of the tunnel. When the seminar organizers offered a few sessions of psychology course, I automatically grabbed it. I was willing to ask the help of other people to make me happy, or to make me understand what happiness was. Like what Ekaterina Sedia (2007) in her book “The Secret History of Moscow” stated, people will simply turn into crows if they would not be treated as humans. It is very essential to understand that everyone needs other people to be happy. Happiness can never be achieved alone. June 17, 2010 Thursday I learned today that to be successful in this world, a person needs more than just intelligence. Emotional intelligence is an essential element of a person’s success. It is the same as psychological construct. Emotional intelligence is a term coined by Salovey and Mayer (1990) to explain why some people are more psychologically stable and emotionally stronger compared to others. Salovey and Mayer (1990) said that the reason for the success of other people is that they use their psychological stability to achieve success. Even if a person is very intelligent, there is a much difference when that person knows how to use intelligence to his personal advantage. Remember, not all smart people are successful (Salovey & Mayer, 1990, p.185). June 20, 2010 Sunday I believe that there are a lot of things that I could do with my life. I am not unhappy, in a way. I think I could be happy. I was reading some articles early this morning and I saw that psychologists suggest that there are a lot of ways to measure a person’s emotional stability. In short, no one could really decide whether or not a person has a positive psychological constructs. Positive psychological constructs, as my example earlier could be a person’s optimism, job satisfaction and tolerance for ambiguity. Even if it is so hard to measure the psychological stability of a person, I still tried to apply and reflect on some of the positive psychological constructs which I have learned in the seminar I attended. I knew I was ready to face the world again (Stone, 1978). June 21, 2010 Monday The sessions of the psychological course will end soon; I will go to another city and look for a job. I want to boost my morale and develop self-esteem. I want to learn how to socialize with people without making them angry. I want to prevent moments of awkward silence when I am around people. For all of these reasons, I think I am starting to develop one of the major positive psychological constructs – job satisfaction. Perhaps, job satisfaction is one the hardest thing to ever achieve. June 27, 2010 Friday When I was still working as a columnist, despite the satisfaction of both my readers and my editor, I was unhappy. I could not proudly tell other people what my job was. There was no satisfaction when I was still a writer. And then yesterday, I applied in a radio station to be a disc jockey, sure enough I was hired. I was really surprised when the management gave me a welcoming party. My co-workers were singing and dancing. Everyone was having fun. They said that they do that every time there is new hire. They said it was their tradition. Men and women alike were working as a big team in the radio station. Everyone was doing their best to make the show really good. June 28, 2010 Monday This is the time in my life when I am starting to feel like I am already developing my self-esteem, another positive psychological construct. It is true that positive psychological constructs aim at making a person competent at many levels. I observed today that in the process of working, people develop relationships with each other. As time passes by, I started appreciating some of my workmates, something that I have never done before. Whenever I talk on air, I observed that they were enjoying my show. They were laughing as if I was really a good disc jockey. They continually said I sound really good on air; I was sweet and humorous at the same time. I could say that I am happy whenever I make other people laugh. June 30, 2010 Wednesday I am happy that through my strengths I get to help a lot of other people around me. I think that emotional intelligence also makes a person strong. In my case, I used my quest for self-esteem to make me a better person. During the bitter days of my life, I used to hate myself, I never believed in what I could do. While it is true that some people could fight the waves of life, I could not. Because of the first positive psychological trait that I developed, job satisfaction, I was also able to develop perhaps the most important positive trait of all – self-esteem. Self esteem gave me a lot of confidence and will to face life’s changing tides. The waves are big but my anchor is strong and my sail is steady. At last, I was starting to be happy (Goleman, 1995, p.262). July 2, 2010 Friday To increase positive emotions, I realized today that a person must continue doing the things that make him or her happy. When I learned to develop self-esteem, everything seemed to be easier and more fun. I was enjoying my work even more and my workmates even said I look younger! Whenever there are problems that come my way, I tend to solve them faster than I used to do. My bosses are really satisfied with my works and my listeners continuously send me electronic messages congratulating the increase in ratings of my show. It is indeed true that an individual could make a lot of difference in the world if he would wish to. I was just a speck in the face in the universe but I know for a fact that I was starting a change; a positive change from within which would eventually flow out to the environment around me. July 5, 2010 Monday Today, I joined the toast master’s club (a debate club). The members of the organizations are people of different disciplines and different walks of life. Despite the disparities in social status and other interests, all the members of the club were respecting everyone else. I was so glad to see how mutual understanding was present in the club regardless of the level of intelligence of its members. Well true, that the more civilized the people are, the better they understand each other. However, there are cases in which civilization has destroyed basic human values such as human dignity and peaceful co-existence of races (Cooper, 1992). Summative Reflection I have learned how to use my strengths strategically in order for me to gain advantages in this world and I have let go of my weaknesses which serve as dead weights as I journey in life. There is no denying that I struggled just to reach the psychological stability that I have right now. Thanks to the psychological course that I attended to, I am a more confident person now. If somebody will ask me if I am happy, I could definitely answer it right away. I am happy in all sense of the word. I have already reflected on three major positive psychological constructs – job satisfaction, self-esteem and organizational commitment. Just when I thought that these three would be enough, another positive psychological construct came my way. Thanks for my experiences; I have learned that the moral imperative of respect is more than just intelligence, but also the immeasurable power of love. Perhaps love is the most cliché but still the most powerful moral force of all. It could save a thousand souls and launch a thousand ships all at the same time. Because of its unending power, love could either make or unmake a person. I never thought I was going to meet love, until I finally did. I thought I was going to be alone my whole life until I met the person of my dreams. That person was the most perfect example of happiness. Whenever we’re together, I could not help but smile. I thought I was just in a constant high; some sort of an airborne drugs. When love hits you, it hits you hard I thought that the magic of love was a belief that was inexistent. But once a person catches that idea of love, be it in work, studies and relationship, one would realized that its spell is a magic more powerful than the idea of magic itself, a force so strong neither time could forget, nor could death kill. I knew from the very start that two people must come together and form a romantic relationship and eventually, get married. More than a psychological construct, love is an inevitable social truth (Meyer, 1989). Since the day I met that person in work, I learned that I do not just live for myself alone. Time would come that a person would value somebody else more than his or her own life. I experienced it first hand; I guess I have the right to claim that there is one person that I value the most. Right now, I am not sure where we are heading; what I am sure of is that wherever we might be, we will always be together. All of my personal experiences affect other people as well. I am very happy to see that there are individuals who smile because of my jokes on air and that there are people who find comfort talking to me. I am new at this work but I know that through optimism, self-esteem and job dedication, I will be able to reach the things that I want to reach someday. While I was reading the things I wrote in the past fifteen days, I observed that I feel the flow of life whenever I make other people happy and proud. A month ago, I did not know when to feel the flow of social belongingness, but because of constant communication with other people I am starting to know when and when do I not feel that sense of flow of belongingness. Good thing I have used all my strengths properly. If I did not apply for job in the radio, perhaps I am still the same lifeless newspaper columnist. People in the newspaper were too serious, maybe it was because of the pressure that making a story brings. I want to go back to the newspaper company someday and visit the people there. I would like to tell them how my life has totally changed in a short period of time. It is really true that through positive psychological traits, a person could make a lot of change in the world. I will probably tell the people in the newspaper company to do the things they want and to at least have fun sometimes. Too much seriousness is deadly. I will continue to work for now. I think there are still a lot of things to do with my life. I hope my optimism will continue. Now I could confidently say, I know what it means to be free, what it means to fall in love, and what it means to be happy. Reference List Art of Europe, 2010. All the world’s a stage. [Online] Available at: http://www.artofeurope.com/shakespeare/sha9.htm [Accessed 18 August 2010]. Burke, E., 1993. Struggle and survival in the Modern Middle East. Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. Cooper, J. F., 1992. The last of the Mohicans. New York, NY: Baronet Books.   Goleman, D., 1995. Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam Books. Harris, R., 1992. Fatherland. New York, NY: Harper Paperbacks. Meyer, D., 1987. Sex and power. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. Salovey, P. & Mayer, J.D., 1990. Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, pp.185-211. Sedia, E., 2007. The secret history of Moscow. New Jersey: Prime Books. Spanier, J., 1974. Games nations play. 4th ed. New York, NY: Praeger Publishers, Inc. Stone, E., 1978. Research methods in organizational behavior. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman. Read More