Forgiveness is essential to being happy. Allowing those blah days to turn into blah weeks because ‘I didn’t do anything yesterday so I might as well do nothing today’ is exactly how to let any progress you’ve made slip through your fingers. Being disappointed and upset and frustrated that you didn’t get/achieve exactly what you wanted can be used in one of two ways. Numero uno: downwards spiral, self talking into a bad mood, or giving up. Or, number 2: motivation to do better the next day, the next test, the next attempt. I have tried to apply this to school as often as I can. Although the first option seems so tempting after getting a not so good grade on something, utilizing option two brings about positivity and allows for further accomplishment.
I took Math 30-1 the first semester of this year and applied this lesson that I’ve learned countless times over the 5 months (mostly because I got a lot of not so great marks). Marks such as 36%, 62%, 47% were definitely marks that I received throughout the course. I remember a few times when my heart would just drop, and I’d get a sick feeling in my stomach after getting handed back a paper with one of those numbers on it. I’ve always been a good student… how could I have actually done that badly?! However, our teacher always offered us rewrites of our tests (bless her soul) and I took full advantage of this opportunity. I would study as hard as possible, practicing questions, and testing myself until it was time to rewrite. I made sure to never go into a rewrite as unprepared as I was for the first version of the test. Often my 36%’s and 47%’s would turn into 87%’s or sometimes even 96%’s, due to my diligent studying. Although I would’ve liked to get those higher marks on the first versions of the tests, rewriting them taught me how important it is to use not so great things in life as motivation, rather than excuses.
In taking the saying “haters are my motivators” to heart, my 36%’s and 47%’s were my haters, and they really did the trick.
Emma Dietze 