“An Old Woman” by Arun Kolatkar and “Nothing’s Changed” by Tatamkhulu Afrika

In any situation, I believe that weaknesses and struggles define a person; where as our strengths help offset our weaknesses. Which in turn makes us a well-rounded person. Our strengths from hitting a home run to overseeing a major account to compassion and patience with others, are usually easy to identify. Our society commends the strongest and the best. My strongest strengths, which includes stubborness and a hardworker, are offset by my weaknesses, which are my unlikeable short-temper and a tendency to become easily frustrated. My first strength is stubbornness. I am the oldest of four kid’s which I believe has a part in me being obstinate. It seems the oldest child has to fight for everything from attention to having less chores. Strong willed is defined as an obstinate person in the psychology field. I have read about strong willed children and they create a plan then put it into action. Some people might think stubbornness as weakness. However, it is a trait that is really an advantage for a strong willed individual; they believe in something so strong that they will not back down until they make it happen.

Because of my stubbornness I have made it through some tough times that a passive person would have just fell apart. Which leads me to my second strength of being a hard worker. Nothing in my life has come easy for me. I have always had to work hard at anything I set out to do. Plus as a kid I had to work for anything I wanted and because of that I believe it made me a better person. It taught me to appreciate what I earned and make wise choices on how I spent my money. In addition, being a hardworker made me a better mom because I have stepped up to my everyday tasks with my children and have done it to the best of my ability. Areas Of Improvement Next are my weaknesses which I struggle with everyday. One of those weaknesses is my short-temper. It is a trait I came by honestly because my father and grandmother have a temper. I believe a temper is something that is a learned behavior. It takes a lot of will power to control a temper. Although with some practiced techniques I have learned to keep my temper from getting out of control. One method I have found to help is getting up and walking into another room by myself to cool off. Then I think about how to approach this problem that is in a calm and productive manner. Another technique I found useful is to focus on being calm when I can not remove myself from the irratating situation.

A lot of my temper stems from my next weakness. Which is being impatient. I want everything done right now and a certain way. I always feel my world is going to fall apart if it is not done. For Instance, my house has to be clean. If there are clothes on the floor or dishes in the sink I will take it upon myself to do it than to wait for a family member to do their chore. If it is dirty I automatically think about germs which really make me feel that I have to disinfect it because then I know I have done it my way which is the right way in my mind. Plans Of Action In Conclusion, to know what your weaknesses are gives you an advantage on being able to focus on them. Growth and change can only happen when you are aware of your weaknesses. However, changing those weaknesses are the hard part. You can create a plan for anything but putting that plan into action is the difficult part. Everybody has strengths and weaknesses; it is what has shaped and molded us into who we are today. It is how we utilize our strengths to our advantage that will make us the best that we can be. Then in turn will give us the strength to put in our plan of action to change those undesirable qualities.