Spirituality, Gender Identity, Race, and Ethnicity - Report Example

Wellness Plan and Number} Section One Dimension The Essential Self 1. Spirituality My spiritual / religious orientation helps me to identify areas where high moral ground needs to be taken. It is not possible for a person to make all the possible choices in a lifetime to observe their results so religion can be relied upon to make the correct choices. For example, religion forbids adultery. Instead that a person commit adultery repeatedly in order to observe its effects on human life, it is better to stick by religious teachings in matters of this kind. 1.2. Gender Identity Gender identity provides a method for assuming ascribed roles and statuses in society without which it would be hard to decipher how others perceive you on the gender plane. I have looked to my parents as well as some of my teachers in my life as gender role models. Being a heterosexual helps me to identify with mainstream sexuality without having to figure out complications in such affairs. My community supports heterosexuality at large and this in turn helps me to gain greater acceptance from society. 1.3. Cultural Identity – Race and Ethnicity My race helps me to identify with my ethnic group which in turn provides me with much needed support especially during low points in my life. I look to my ethnic roots to draw inspiration for the personal struggle and commitment in life displayed by my ethnic group. My grandfather provided me with an ethnic role model to live in life and I draw upon his experiences quite a lot. My race and ethnicity have helped me time and again to adopt a pluralistic vision and to avoid bias towards other groups. 1.4. Self Care I avoid drugs and alcohol as well as tobacco because of their harmful effects on health. I attend to personal hygiene regularly by bathing, washing hands, trimming my nails etc. However at times I stretch myself to the limit under workloads which may spell problems for my health in the longer run. During work and play I try to identify areas that might cause bodily harm and do my best to avoid them at all times. I avoid all kinds of situations where my behavior would become harmful or risky for example I drive at recommended speeds only and never bypass road signs. 2. Dimension 2: The Social Self 2.1. Friendship My friends have been a source of continuous strength for me as they have helped me out when I needed it most. Friends have given me fiscal support as well as emotional strength to cope with challenges. I have had many special friends throughout life and I cherish each of them for their contributions to my persona. As a friend I have always tried to be of assistance to my friends even if it means personal costs. 2.2. Love I remember my childhood years distinctly when I was a very angry child. Over the years the love and support of my family helped me shed anger and replace it with passion and an accommodating attitude. My family values me as somebody you can rely on for support and emotional understanding in my various roles connected to me. For me a positive love relationship is where you love someone without any needs such as my parents caring for me when I was small. Although I was not giving them anything material back then but they still chose to care for me for so long. Even now when I need it, the closest helping hand comes from my parents. 3. Dimension 3: The Coping Self 3.1. Leisure I enjoy doing and watching sports though I may not always have time to pursue them regularly. Even still I try to take time out for enjoying sports as well as a good laugh with my friends. Fun is a part of my routine so laughing with a friend on the phone before doing this task made me feel better equipped to deal with this task. I benefited from leisure the most before I took my standardized admission tests because I was very stressed out given the possibility of failure. 3.2. Stress Management When I encounter stress I take deep breaths and begin to focus on the cause for the problem at hand. The best stress management I carried out was when another driver hit my vehicle on the freeway from the rear. The other driver panicked and began to blame and curse me but I stayed calm although I was hurt and bleeding a little. I managed to convince the other driver that everything was fine and under control as my vehicle was insured and there was no need for defilement and abuse. I play sports such as football in order to manage consistent stress such as that from workload pressure and it tends to calm me down. 3.3. Self Worth My self esteem and self worth derive from my ability to help others out however I can. Contributing to others has made me feel happy and relaxed every single time whether it was financial help, physical support or emotional support that I could give them even if it meant that I was stretched thin as a result of helping others. In the future I would continue to give others whatever support and strength that I can muster. 3.4. Realistic Beliefs I believe in a continuous cycle of personal accountability. This helps me keep in touch with reality and to be as down to Earth as possible. I am mostly able to evaluate myself and others honestly as per abilities and limitations and base my course of action on these evaluations. My past and present have been a combination of positive experiences and I see my future positively too. To me there are no regrets in life but rather opportunities to learn from. 4. Dimension 4: The Creative Self 4.1. Thinking For my own self I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist but rather a realist. I tend to encourage myself by giving myself hope but in certain proportions only. Hope is a good thing, probably the best of all things but hoping against hope can be devastating so I keep my encouragement to myself in check. I keep resolving small issues every now and then but I managed to resolve a misunderstanding between my friends that was blowing out of proportion which makes me feel good to this day. Optimism worked for me when my father was in hospital for his angioplasty. Without optimism I might not have been able to deal with the situation effectively enough. 4.2. Emotions I tend to express emotions rather subtly in comparison to other people. This helps me deal with the situation at hand more effectively without being swept away by emotions. I believe in giving another person an environment of acceptance and understanding because their emotional experiences will be different from mine and hence their emotional outlook and behavior would be differentiated too. I am open to emotional support from others especially by talking about the issue at hand. 4.3. Control Everyone should be given breathing space to operate in and call their own. I only take charge of situations when I feel that there is no other way out such as when people are looking for myopic gains without considering greater good. A positive sense of control stays with me in relation to my own being as well as to others who often ask me to control things on their behalf. For example I was often asked by my peers at school to assume leadership of groups working for team projects. Everyone is in control of their own destiny – it is only a question of realizing this. Rather than pitting the blame with someone, it is better to account for personal mistakes that are causing an aberration in personal control. Some of my friends do hard drugs. If I started to do hard drugs, I could easily blame them for it but the fact would remain that I let my self control loose enough to do drugs. 4.4. Work I enjoy doing jobs where my contribution can make a difference. I worked for SOS villages in my school years as a teacher and community worker and was able to impact my class’ learning and skill set significantly. The test scores of the children taught by me made me proud. On the job, I tend to keep as lax an environment as possible and provide support to others when they need it even if they are not asking for it. Moreover I try to garner people around me to be independent by giving them small tasks that give them a sense of achievement. Once they begin to deliver results, I give them great leverage as independent workers. 4.5. Positive Humor Anything that lightens the mood makes me laugh no matter how silly or childish or how sophisticated it is. My sense of humor is geared to have fun not to impinge others. Laughing helps me deal with difficult situations every now and then. Probably laughing on my own self with others helps the most. 5. Dimension 5: The Physical Self 5.1. Nutrition I am rather passive when it comes to nutrition and I tend to eat anything that comes my way without caring much for nutritional value. My current eating habits and my weight do not reflect good nutritional standards. In the past I was more aware of nutrition and kept in tandem with good eating habits but now I am more careless in this regard. 5.2. Exercise I take long walks and play football for exercise because I do not see pumping iron as good enough methods for exercise. Previously I was exercising regularly but of late I have not been that regular. I exercise roughly two to three times a week while I exercised every single day previously. Exercise helps to calm me down and makes me feel fresher. Section Two Strengths Dimension 3 – Stress Management: I cope with stress very effectively when put into such situations. I have constantly climbed in and out of stressful situations with desirable results which indicate that I can handle stress. Dimension 3 – Realistic Beliefs: My constant nagging of my personal self ensures that my expectations of myself and others are as realistic as possible. Moreover my estimates of myself and other people generally tend to produce results when applied to the real world which means that my beliefs are largely realistic. Dimension 4 – Control: I have handled myself and teams of other people time and again with success and without complaints which indicates that people are pleased with the amount of control that I exert. Dimension 4 – Work: I have developed and reared teams to be independent and functional by allowing them measures of independence and self confidence. The teams I developed are still effectively functioning without me at the helm of affairs which proves their sustainability. Weaknesses Dimension 5 – Nutrition: I have gained some weight that is now turning into layers of fat around my body. This has contributed to a decreasing stamina level and poorer sleeping habits. I need to improve this area as soon as possible in order to ensure that I do not end up accruing fat in my arteries that could be detrimental to my health in the longer run. Section Three Weak Area: Dimension 5 – The Physical Self I don’t pay much attention to what I am eating and this predates my poor nutritional habits although I do exercise every now and then. Objective: To improve my long term health objectives by eating more proper food that carries better nutritional value. Goal: Reduce my cholesterol level by 20% and my fat levels with it. Action Items: 1. Reduce eating fried products especially KFC and reduce my weight with this method by 20 lbs in two months. 2. Exercise more regularly that is once per day for about two hours. Read More