The Influence of Carl Allen on Personal Character - Admission/Application Essay Example

Emotional distress can adversely affect the way a person thinks about life in general. In most cases, people who are not able to control such negative emotions tend to have a higher chance of either committing suicide or simply allowing themselves to live their life wasted. In the past, I do admit that I can be a negative thinker. Whenever I face difficulties in life, I automatically doubt whether or not I could succeed in such an endeavor. There was even a time when I was a young child when I thought about leaving home because of some personal problems.

It was late last year when I had the chance to watch Carl Allen which was portrayed by Jim Carey in the movie “Yes Man”. Since I was able to relate some of my weaknesses in his character, the movie made me reflect on those days when I tend to easily give up whenever I encounter emotional problems or something that could make me doubt my self-worth. Back then, I could rarely find myself being active in socializing with my schoolmates. I was so much intimidated up to the extent that I would intentionally isolate myself from other people.

As soon as I was able to realize the advantages of having a positive outlook in life, I began to search for possible reasons that could trigger the development of low self-esteem. Back then, I would spend some time at the library browsing on books or surfing the Internet regarding the impact of negative thinking and low self-esteem as I search for ways on how I could convert this mentality into a positive one. Eventually, I decided to list down all my weaknesses on a piece of paper.

The practice of writing down my weaknesses on a piece of paper made it easier for me to identify the negative attitude that hinders me from becoming more successful in life – not only as a student but also as a human being who is capable of facing new challenges in life. For a few months, I spent a lot of time trying to change my character from being a negative to a positive thinker. Although it was not easy to change myself into a better person, I managed to learn how to effectively deal with my weaknesses better as compared to those days before I went through the realization process.