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Too Criticizing of Myself

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  • #113843
    Janus
    Participant

    i can’t wait for school;) some people say adults should hold their emotions in and not release them, but sometimes it is good to let the tears flow, to let the anger out (when you’re alone, not onto someone else) b/c pent-up emotions can become quite unbearable and soon might explode. we are taught to be strong and tough not to show our weakness, but sometimes we need to let our emotions show to let them go and feel better about ourselves. keeping our emotions bottled up like a bell jar (reference to sylvia plath) will soon make us crack and the glass to shatter since we can only withhold so much. i remember one of the quotes from The Bell Jar and it was this “I keep all these thoughts locked inside afraid to show them. The lid of the bell jar seems to constrict me more and more. The glass jar is the transparency of the world and the fact I feel imprisoned looking through the glass into a surreal reality.” I had to read this book for summer reading for eighth grade and i hated it, but in my junior year when i revisited the book again for psychology with my former ap world history teacher (she teaches psychology), i began to see the book in a new light. Even adults have things to learn and also feel unsure of themselves and they should also stop to question themselves at times to what they really want not what the world wants of them so they can gain favor (paraphrased from my Achieving Goals meditation). I also like Sylvia Plath’s Mirror poem in which she is seeing different faces of herself. She says the mirror only speaks the truth, neither like nor dislike for herself. When Sylvia says
    “Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
    It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
    I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
    Faces and darkness separate us over and over.”
    I think she is struggling to find her self-identity, she looks over at her heart on the opposite wall, but it is only flickering obscured by dark faces. Her heart represents what she truly wants to feel, the pink heart beating loud with life and confidence, but it is on the opposite wall far away from her much like the way her goals in her heart are, blocked by darkness and obstacles. When Sylvia says this
    “Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me,
    Searching my reaches for what she really is.
    Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.”
    I feel she is looking into herself, looking at her reflection and searching for her true self, but she doesn’t have the courage since she turns back to the liars and the things that hold her back.

    When Sylvia says: “She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
    I am important to her. She comes and goes.
    Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
    In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
    Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.”

    She wants to know the young woman that she used to me, the one with the dreams and hopes. The young woman makes her feel agitated as she finds herself back into the darkness when all she wants is to be free and young and not drowned in darkness watching her life pass her by (an old woman rises toward… like a terrible fish).

    I think her poetry represents the insecurities that we all have. We all want to live our lives to the fullest, but sometimes we are confused on who we truly are. We struggle between light and darkness, fear of life passing us by and hold tight to our youth. All in all, this poem is about trying to find who you are despite the fact that there will be obstacles and to live life before life lives you.

    #113868
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Shirley:

    Will read your last post tomorrow morning and reply then.
    anita

    #113918
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Shirley, Earth Angel:

    I agree with it being unhealthy to repress feelings, not to express them. Some social situations require repression, of course. But the emotions need to be processed and expressed somehow.

    The liars referred to in the poem you quoted from, one of them is the inner bully.

    “To live life to the fullest” is a concept you repeated through your posts, over time. As far as I know, “Every one of us has to find a way to live with fear”- a line from a poem I know. Fear blocks us from living life as if there was no danger.

    In other words, danger is real. Some people are dangerous so we have to be cautious with those people, not be… fully ourselves with them, that is, not our vulnerable selves, not with them. We have to face our limitations- so we can’t live life as if we had no limitations.

    Living life with more freedom, less fear, yes, absolutely.

    anita

    #113923
    Janus
    Participant

    I agree that in social situations it is important to control anger and other emotions especially since sometimes anger leads to bad confrontations. if someone makes you angry, look away from them and lower your voice, deal you business listening to both sides then walk away an put your anger to good use such as working out. i also agree that not everyone is nice, but it is our attitude that is important. we can’t live without fear since fear also helps us in the way that it keeps us safe such as most people wouldn’t want to go rock climbing without a safety harness, but it’s the attitude that we have with fear that counts. we can let our fear and anger limit us from our dreams or when can try to overcome our obstacles. there are people who are successful who are miserable, but their are people who do simple jobs who are happy. you wouldn’t be said to be having a life if you did something that made you miserable, even if you made a living. i have wanted to be athletic since seventh grade when i was bullied for athleticism, but once i achieved it, i still didn’t think i was perfect b/c i wanted to be smarter. we can’t keep changing ourselves for the better when we feel insecure on the inside. my inner bully often makes situations worse than they really are and often makes me irritated at myself, but what the inner bully thinks often isn’t what the world sees me as. i want to find a way to live happily on the inside, then when i feel happy on the inside i can reflect it on the outside.

    #114038
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Shirley, Earth Angel:

    I don’t think life can be perfect and I don’t think any person can be perfect. I don’t believe one’s life can be totally free of fears. I think you can live the best you can and make progress over time. Focus should be on progress, not on perfection.

    Because there is no such thing as perfection.

    Live better today than you lived yesterday. Focus on the journey, not on an imagined destination of perfection and ecstasy or perfect calm and peace of mind.

    Do your best, calming yourself repeatedly during the day. Accept that there will be difficulties, that everyone has difficulties, that as you are not perfect- neither is anyone else.

    A few days to school!

    anita

    #114059
    Janus
    Participant

    i agree that there is no such thing as perfection, but there is a sense of peace when you begin to accept yourself as you are. i like to be alone out in nature and when i get a job as a molecular biologist, i’m going to get a house near some woods. fear is good in that it keeps people from doing dangerous things, but it’s bad when it keeps you from your dreams. my parents’ judgmental views get on my nerves a lot of the time.

    i have a few friends who are bisexual, gay and transgender. Here are the reasons I don’t get along with my family:
    Both of my parents and brother don’t like LGBT people.
    I am a Buddhist wiccan and my parents think most spirits are evil so sometimes when I talk to spirits they think I’m weird. My brother and my dad are atheists and my mom is a taoist. my parents are going for christianity which clashes with my buddhist wiccan belief.
    My dad likes toolworking too much, while my mom is too wrapped up in her bills.
    My mom complains about being unhealthy, but she won’t change her habits such as getting some exercise or eating the right amount of food portions, no matter how hard I get her to.
    They are very patriarchal and think that girls can’t be scientists or shouldn’t bench press or do pull-ups.
    I am the polar opposite of my mom who likes shopping for clothes, fashion, jewelry and flowers. I rather wear shorts and a t-shirt as opposed to a skirt and I enjoy keeping my hair short b/c when I do science labs long hair is a hazard and also so it doesn’t blow in my face when I’m working out. I like to work with scientific tools, workout and shop for healthy food.
    They tell me to “deal with it” when I try to confide in them or they tell me to “mind my own self” when I tell them about my friends.
    They tend to spy on me on a lot on things even when I want to be alone.
    My mom overdramatizes ever situation that makes her mad and she lets her anger leave her staggering.
    They need to ask me about everything when it is in english b/c they can’t speak it well even when i’m busy with school work.
    They criticize me and say I have no life skills and I’m nothing compared to my brother. Just b/c I’m not good at finances, tool work. they say i only have book knowledge and nothing else.

    #114069
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Shirley, Earth Anglel:

    You never shared so much about your parents and (some about) your brother in this getting close to 600 post-threads. I am very pleased that you shared more than ever before.

    Do wear your t-shirts and shorts, not skirts; your hair short and persist in your goal to be a scientist … and do continue to reach out to your athletic goals… and no need for you to like shopping and be into fashion and jewelry and flowers.

    I once heard the concept that the mother is a vehicle for the child to get into the world; the child passes through the mother’s body into the world, that is all. Therefore, a mother doesn’t own the child, should not possess the child and enforce her ways on the child.

    You are your own person, the one and only Shirley, Earth Angel.

    Their values and yours are very different. One day, in a few years, you will be living away from them, in your own place, maybe with roommates, people of your choosing, people whose values are similar to yours.

    Unlike in times gone in history or in some places in the world, you, Shirley, are not stuck in a social caste or trapped in a family you were born through (not “into”)- you can choose and it is okay that you do.

    I don’t like their criticism of you, I really don’t.

    Be strong, Shirley- have your faith, as I do- in who you are, the precious individual that you are. There is no one like you and I am glad that you are on this earth!

    anita

    #114326
    Janus
    Participant

    thanks a lot anita, you are the most understanding and compassionate friend i’ve met:D i took a break for a while b/c my inner bully was making my brain hurt and i was fighting it for four days and it was relentless. it kept telling “you are ugly. you are nothing. you are fat.” i am glad to say that it has faded for a while. i feel glad that i made a victory again even though it was hard this time, but i feel much better and stronger to have triumphed. also your kind words on this site always uplift me;) thank you for having faith in me. school starts tomorrow, can’t wait:)

    • This reply was modified 8 years, 1 month ago by Janus.
    #114342
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Shirley, Earth Angel:

    I thought about you today, it being Labor Day, knowing tomorrow will be your first day at school.

    I am glad you triumphed against the inner bully- how rude that bully is! How dare he say those unkind, rude, crude words to my Earth Angel! I do not like that inner bully, not at all. Keep triumphing.

    I am excited to read your report of your first day at school! So very excited.

    anita

    #114411
    Janus
    Participant

    I’m working on getting the hang of the Ti-89 calculator for ap calc and it’s quite advanced. The thing I need to remember is to put parentheses for most of my data when typing it in b/c my old calculator didn’t require parentheses. I also find that after checking with my calculator for the results to the problems, it gives a different answer than what I came up when when I solved it on my own, so I’m still working on finding out my mistake (since I double checked and the calculator is still giving the same result). There are so little people in my class this year, but it’s good b/c it’s quiet and peaceful, here are the classes in order that I take them in this semester (ap classes are full year). There are only 13 students in my ap calc class, 10 in my business/web develop., around 15 in my ap bio class and around 18 in my java class. my former lunch buddy steve feng is in my ap calc class. I have A lunch which is crowded this year with around 60 students there and Andrew, zach (from former ap world history) and javi (former track mate, also he was in my cooking/sewing class in freshman year). Andrew is competitive as ever in ap biology with me especially since we have group competitions with our ap bio studybook. i had a feeling before school started in july that i wouldn’t see dave in my classes and i was right. while in school, i went to visit my former ap english teacher to return her books, i thought i saw dave, but it wasn’t him. I also had a feeling a week before school started that there would be a guy named sal in one of my classes and i was right. sal is very ambitious and wants to be more independent with his own company or work and likes nature like me. i admire his confidence in himself b/c he doesn’t look up to anyone, but himself. he is quite high-achieving and really believes in his abilities and that is who i want to be. someone without an inner bully, but an inner critic that keeps me motivated to work my best. i have a feeling that i will see kordell (former ap world history, swimmer, entertaining) again, i don’t know why, it’s just a strong feeling. i know that kordell is taking psychology with mrs. whelan (former ap world history teacher) probably in spring semester so when i visit my former teacher, i may see him. no surprises here that my special friend is in A lunch with me, I had a feeling that he would be b/c he has been in lunches the whole high school years (C,B,C,A goes the lunch order. however this year the school downsized and there is no more B lunch so A is crowded). anyway, my special friend is quite happy with his gf and occupied with his classes and college applications so we haven’t talked for 2.5 months (includes the last three weeks of july and august along with now). We still look out for each other though and I am happy that he is happy with her right now. We are more comfortable around each other b/c formerly we had romantic interests in each other, but that has faded a bit. I think a relationship with him would have complicated things anyway so I’m happy that he has found someone and I’m glad we are still friends which is just right for us. It’s strange that my inner bully seems less in school, it’s probably b/c i’m with people similar to me and also enjoy learning. during the summer being with my family at the restaurant with people i feel don’t know me well, i feel insecure. so i think my inner bully is an environmental thing. i can be quite happy in the library, but in the gym where i’m a decent athlete (not great), i feel insecure. my inner bully seems to often use situations that i’m already shy in to rear its head and say “look all those people think you’re ugly. you have big thighs.your stomach is too big. your chest is too big and saggy.” i find that when i’m in my environment, i am quite confident and there is no inner bully.
    i’m nervous about doing well in ap calc b/c apparently andrew is competing with me in that class (we don’t share the same class, he has it 2nd block, while I have it 1st), but we still compete. some of the problems are a bit complex and like i said above my calculator doesn’t agree with me so i need to work on it since the test is on thurs and the teacher is collecting the packet tomorrow.

    #114431
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Shirley, Earth Angel:

    A fancy calculator that requires entering parentheses. Hope you get used to it soon. I’ve has a new fancy cell phone for months and I still don’t know how to operate the simple functions I used to know on the old phone. Wish I had the old phone. But you have to adjust and take on the new technology. Have (patience) with the calculator until it works for you.

    Andrew is in the second block ap calc but that doesn’t keep him from competing with you and Dave is nowhere to be seen. Zach, javi and sal are new names for me. Your special friend is in A Lunch so you see him and still friends although he now has a girlfriend for three months or so.

    It is good you have only 9-17 peers in your various classes. I hope this means you get more attention, helpful, laid back, encouraging personal attention from the teachers.

    I am not surprised your inner bully bullies you where you are weak or insecure- this is why it is called bully. A helpful, gentle, patient and kind inner critic is what I would like you to have… everywhere. It would be so very cool, wouldn’t it, if the inner bully would become extinct like your old calculator and the inner critic would be like your new calculator.

    I don’t know if you will have much time to read and post here, now that you are back to school and getting used to a new schedule, new classes etc. Take care of yourself and schedule your time well. Be gentle with yourself every day.

    anita

    #114529
    Janus
    Participant

    surprisingly andrew was in a great mood today and we had lots of laughs during ap biology (3A). he even helped me with some of science questions. while in 2nd block business/web class, i thought i would have time to type this, but the teacher assigned a current event so i did that. sal saw what i wrote about him (he sits next to me in class) and he smiled. anyway, the current event took me the whole block (80 minutes) since i was researching the economy of germany and how britain debated on dropping out of the EU. anyway, i managed to finish with 5 minutes left in the block and sal and this girl (also sits on my right, i think her name is amanda, alyssa?) were helping me finish. i like the classmates in my business/web class, they are really good at working as a team and quite fun to be around, the teacher is great also since he helps make sure his students are caught up. also surprisingly today, dave is in my 3A lunch:) i had an appointment with the guidance counselor on college questions and she said that i should start applying in dec. to occ, so i was too early before and a few other questions, she cleared some of my anxiety and i was a bit late to lunch but that’s okay. i looked around for a while for a table to sit and i sat with a couple friends i knew such as storm (he has a great sense of humor a.k.a quote ‘marijuana is the devil’s grass.’ he is really against smoking. anyway, he took ap calc last year and is glad that i’m taking it this year b/c he can help me with some of the stuff i need help with just b/c he wants to feel smart;) and i don’t mind. i didn’t know dave was friends with storm as well, but i saw him circle around our table, leave and then sit at our table.
    i’m glad the middle table was filled today b/c yesterday i sat there by myself, so today when the table was full, i found somewhere else to sit and surprisingly met dave. anyway, dave is taking ap calc 2nd block with andrew so there is still part of the trio from former ap english (dave, andrew and me). anyway, dave responded to my email about bible codes that i sent to him 3 weeks ago in person. my ap calc teacher is great at explaining things, but i’m still a bit vague on some areas of the calculator. he explains things well with class concepts, but the calculator is a bit confusing. i hope you do well with your new cellphone, anita. so my ap calc teacher didn’t collect the summer packets today b/c he allowed us to use them to study for tomorrow’s test. the great thing about my ap calc class is that everyone is very attentive to the teacher and they enjoy learning and it’s easy to concentrate in there. in java today, 3 guys had the best paper airplanes (anthony and jeff tied, steve neff from former ap world history) and i tied in fourth with someone else. we then renovated our paper airplanes (except the ones that did well, they kept their same steps which we wrote on a paper) and switched papers. we had to use the paper we got and follow their instructions on making a paper airplane some of the instructions were quite creative such as “fold a 30 degree angle near the corners to make a sharper nose.” some of the classmates are better at vocally teaching then writing the steps including anthony. i find that when in ap biology, i try to explain things to people, i make it a bit complex so i wouldn’t be a good teacher, in fact i do that with a lot of my subjects except math and computers. most of the airplanes that others made did not turn out like the ones the original owner made. some were better, worse or not even airplanes. vincent (entertaining and smart) in the class got my instructions and made my airplane look like a bird. i got alex’s instructions and made his look like a boat. anyway, java is the process of telling a computer a set of directions to make it run, so that is why we have the airplane analogy. in java we also got introduced to coding with a game where we dragged commands to help the bird get to the pig (angry birds). i made it to level 3 and i was a bit stuck. java and business/web use the same websites to learn so it’s easy to navigate and they both use google classroom. the thing i like about my classes this year are the teachers and the classmates which work well together. we are competitive, but in a more laidback manner and we help each other. we make each other laugh and enjoy ourselves. remember when i said i had a feeling that i would see kordell? also in ap biology today i had a friend who needed to see mrs.whelan for a psychology question so i went with her after class and i saw kordell there;) there is a girl named liz in my ap biology class and she has a great sense of humor and i also wish i had her hair color which is russet, but changes from brown with golden highlights. i like my ap biology class group. all of them aren’t good test takers esp. emma, but they are quite smart and fun to be around. i like emma b/c she is mature and has confidence about herself. i realize that i’m not ‘stupid’ b/c i’m not the best test taker b/c there are others like that. i am good at picking up new concepts and experimenting more than memorizing formulas and definitions.

    #114530
    Janus
    Participant

    the cool thing i learned is that most of the time our cells debilitate as we age is the lack of oxygen and it can be healed. there is a 55% case study that people who don’t undergo chemotherapy or other after treatments (when their disease is pretty much gone) live for 12 years longer and experience no relapse/ remission while the others who undergo treatment have an year. oxygen helps the body defend against radiation. all the laundry detergents have ‘oxy-something’ which means that they clean with oxygen. oxygen therapies have been known to boost the immune system in the production of white blood cells (slowing apoptosis: cell death). oxygen can break down synthetic toxins (carcinogens cause cancer) in your body (catabolic reactions) much like metabolism reminds me of ATP and oxygen being the last electron acceptor of H ions forming water. i think the buffer in blood works this way to keep a solution balanced at 7.4 and the H ions are neither too much or too little. oxygen also increases antioxidants which slow the aging process preventing the breakdown of collagen and reducing wrinkles. it also fights cancer cells with the production of ‘inferon.’
    This is reminding me of positive feedback where oxygen increases to inhibit something else sometimes enzymes will do that to so it prevents an excess of that product or the enzyme will close its active sites.
    now that i’ve got started on enzymes i feel as if they remind me of an inner bully analogy. enzymes will bind to a substrate that is similar to the substance that needs to be carried into the cell. enzymes lower the energy activation required to perform cellular work so they are known as biological catalysts. anyway, enzymes have a competitive inhibition which binds to the active site and prevents the enzyme from getting the substance it needs (usually when this happens there are more enzymes in the cell, so it’s okay or the enzyme starts producing more of a substance to overpower the competitor). this is like the inner bully which latches on to you and tries to close the door for you to achieving your dreams. in order to defeat the inner bully, you must produce more happy thoughts (substrate) and surround yourself with positive people (more enzymes). there is also non-competitive inhibition which the molecule that is like a substrate backstabs the enzyme and latches on somewhere else onto the enzyme not the active site. this denatures the enzyme’s shape and often prevents it from carrying out its function. there are eight major themes of biology and one of them is: structure and function are related. the core theme is evolution. i think i can fill a whole book with my knowledge;) anyway, back to oxygen therapy, the reason why it’s not popular is that it isn’t profitable. the drugs only treat the symptoms and not the cause, they don’t help the whole cell in healing, they only cure it. healing comes from a latin word meaning to make whole. i also know a bit of latin b/c it’s cool.
    sorry if it sounds like i’m rambling. when i discover how sciences relate, i go all over the place;)

    Did you know that there is a thing called hermaphrodites? they can mate with either female or male since they have both parts. some also can do asexual reproduction. some common ones are snails, clown fish (including 21 other species of fish can also be) and some worms like earthworms.
    oysters can change their gender at will. Science rules!

    from the people’s chemist, oxysolution, animal.mom.me and my own knowledge.

    #114559
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Shirley, Earth Angel:

    Second day of school. It is almost my bed time and I want to read your two posts with a fresh brain and read (I am looking at the last part) about hermaphrodites, snails… exciting time, tomorrow morning!

    anita

    #114631
    Anonymous
    Guest

    Dear Shirley, Earth Angel:

    So much going on in your second day in school. Good Andrew was in a good mood and that Dave is in your lunch break! Still the trio then, in some ways. I read of some of the other students, teachers, the paper airplane experience. You wrote: ” i find that when in ap biology, i try to explain things to people, i make it a bit complex so i wouldn’t be a good teacher”- it caught my eye because when you explained chemistry to me in the past, you were so very clear (including explaining terms in parentheses) that I was very much impressed at how clearly you presented the subject matter and it was a pleasure reading your presentations.

    You wrote: ” i like emma b/c she is mature and has confidence about herself”- this is your first exposure to emma, is it, yesterday? If so, I want to point out something that may be helpful to you: reality is often-enough not what it seems. Every person, almost, has moments of appearing confident, even if most of the time they don’t feel confidence and struggle with doubts and such. Learn to evaluate people over time, listen and observe before you commit to first impressions. What seems at any one time is not necessarily what is.

    As to your second post: again, my point: you explain science very well in my experience. I know you are interested in cellular aging and see your interest there. I also like your analogy of an enzyme being “like the inner bully which latches on to you and tries to close the door for you to achieving your dreams. in order to defeat the inner bully, you must produce more happy thoughts (substrate) and surround yourself with positive people (more enzymes).” – excellent analogy and conclusions! The inner bully is inhibitory, absolutely, scares a person into inactivity, giving up and feeling powerless and helpless. With a gentle, kind, empathetic and patient inner critic you can be aware of your limitations and challenges without using those… against yourself! Being aware and gentle with yourself when you are experiencing a difficulty is most important and it is the time to be more gentle with yourself than at any other time!

    I remember hermaphrodites, of course: snails as such. There are so many snails around here but less so in the last two years because of mild winters. After the first heavy winter I experienced here they were so many and so huge. During the last two winters there are fewer and those that I see are smaller. Can’t tell which is male and female but I am not going to try to figure it out.. because they are hermaphrodites!

    Hope you are having a good third day at school!

    anita

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