Sunday, February 17, 2013
#5 See the potential not only in yourself, but in the others around you.
See the potential in the people around you.
Today I wrote an essay for the Timothy Portenier Memorial Scholarship. The prompt that I had to follow was The Importance of a Special Needs Individual in Society Today.
I’m going to be 100% honest, when I first read the prompt I was blank minded. Nothing popped into my head. I continued to think about the prompt and finally I came up with some reasons that special needs individuals are important to today’s society. First of all, they are capable of teaching us tolerance. Secondly, they can inspire us greatly. And last, they can bring us great joy. As I wrote this paper I began to see the potential that each of these unique human beings has. Then I went on to think about all of the potential that each and every human has.
Think about it this way, when you really don’t like someone, you think derogatory thoughts about them, for girls it may be, “she’s such a slut.” Or “She’s so ugly.” You never hear a girl say something like, “She’s such a slut, but she’s so smart.” Or “Her hairs so ugly, but she has such a pretty face.” This is because when you see the potential in someone, it makes it really hard to dislike or see something negative about them. If everyone could see potential in the people around them, the world would be a much better place, there wouldn’t be bullying, there wouldn’t be racism, there wouldn’t be any more comparing ourselves to others, there would just be recognition of potential in the people around us.
I’m going to make it a goal of mine this year to see the potential in others around me simply because it will do away with the negative thoughts and comments that run through my mind about others. It’s going to be very hard to find the positive in all situations at first because of the whole optimistic pessimistic thing (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, read my last blog) but once I get my feelings under control, finding at least one good thing about a person and seeing that they aren’t just a target for hatred will make you not only feel happier but look happier to others.
Who knows maybe your new happy appearance will shine upon others around you and spread like wildfire! So there yuh go kids! This year take the initiative to See the Potential in the People Around You!
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This is so true! Especially as high school teenagers, we most often like to pick out the bad in people rather than the good. I have too many times find myself in a situation such as this where I am being overly pessimistic towards a person or people. This is where things go wrong in our lives. I am a firm believer that if you what good to be done to you, you have to be good towards others! Individuals with special needs are perfect examples of your moral. Sometimes when people see people with special needs, all that they see are their limitations. They don’t even bother to consider the potential that the person holds! I think it is also vital that we recognize the potential in ourselves as well! I would love to join you in your “movement!”
ReplyDeleteThis is such a good post. It seems to be easier to find faults rather than good things about a person. The Timothy Portenier Scholarship was very thought provoking in their essay, and I found much of the same things you found. Special needs people are often judge by thier looks and not by the kind soul they have on the inside of them. Everyone could be a little kinder, and find the potential in everyone. If everyone were to do that then we would have and easier time in our world. Along with Kylie I will join your movement to find the potential in people too!
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