Trishia Domingo
Kenneth Kerr
EN101-5
September 15, 2010
Secrets to a Sweet Disposition
Everyone goes through hard times throughout their life, whether it is a loss of a loved one, financial difficulties, or stress building up from daily struggles. It takes a special kind of person to be able to get through all of the obstacles that life throws at them and still have a positive outlook on life. Many people do not realize how fortunate they are to live the kind of life that they live and tend to gravitate towards the negative things in their life rather than the positive. People should realize that they are in this world for a specific purpose and look to those who see the glass half full instead of half empty.
America is a great example of an individualist country – this country is one that has, “an ‘I’ consciousness [and] competition, not cooperation, is encouraged” (Rothwell). This could be part of why so many individuals are so self-obsessed and driven to work solely for themselves and not appreciate their existence in the world. There are an overwhelming number of people who are used to having an excess of everything from food to shoes, and if they are lucky, even cars. They are also the ones who are unhappy and unsatisfied with their lives because they feel as if they never have enough of whatever material thing they desire. Many of these individuals could not fathom what life would be like without multiple servings of food, multiple shoes of the same color, and multiple cars that are able to go from zero to sixty in five seconds.
Although the United States is going through some trouble economically it is still considered the most powerful country in the world. Third world countries, however, experience things much differently than the western hemisphere. While several people sleep in a nice, comfortable bed every night, “an estimated 150, 000 refugees from Myanmar are currently in camps across the border in Thailand” (Aljazeera.net). Many of these families have children as young as four who have to walk long distances in order to get to their school – across the town dump. It is often times hard enough to walk with a rancid stench in the air, but to be forced to live next to a place where there is filth everywhere would be extremely difficult to deal with. Even still, the people of Myanmar do it daily. The people of America cannot see themselves working for less than eight dollars an hour, yet there are kids in underdeveloped countries who scavenge around in dumps just to make a measly sixty five cents a day. If more people were aware of the struggle that these children go through they would have a better time seeing the brighter side of many of their own situations.
While children from Myanmar go through obstacles that are sometimes life threatening, there is still a plethora of people who are religiously pessimistic and unwilling to appreciate the life that they live. Such people have many options that will help them with having a positive outlook on life; though it can often times be tricky to find ways to start. People with traits such as, “courage, future mindedness, interpersonal skill, optimism, faith, hope, honesty, perseverance, and work ethic…tend to be more successful and happier in life” (personaldevelopment.com). No matter what type of situation a person may be in, positive thinking is key for them to become content with the way their life will be shaped. Being aware of one’s surroundings could also play a part in obtaining a sweet disposition. If more people were culturally knowledgeable of the world around them they would be able to appreciate everything that they have.
One of the things that kept the children of Myanmar who attend the Blue Sky School in high spirits was a clown that came to visit one of the schools near the dump. Something as simple as a clown making an inflatable balloon dog brings such joy to these kids. On the other hand, kids from wealthier nations would roll their eyes because it is something so elementary and would not appreciate such a simple pleasure. The kids from the school come across things that would leave many unknowing people in despair, but their laughter is one of the things that keep their hopes up for a change in their life. People who are often times stressed out could learn a lot from these children; when people laugh, muscles are stretched throughout the face and body, the pulse and blood pressure go up, and breathing gets faster, which sends more oxygen to the tissues of the body” (cbsnews). It was even reported that a man named Norman Cousins laughed his way from ankylosing spondylitis, a deathly disease of the spine, by watching an endless amount of comedy films! Cousins was originally given six months to live checked himself out of the hospital that he was in and into a hotel and watched Marx Brothers movies and Candid Camera episodes. Norman Cousins ended up adding twenty six years to his life, which proves that it pays off to be positive (nutritionresearchcenter.org).
