A school assignment

 I had to take a 1 credit class the last semester of my BSN in order to get a student loan and it just so happened to be Stress Management 101. I don't feel particularly stressed, maybe at times, but not consistently, but it was a simple class for 5 weeks. I didn't pay much attention to the assignments, and in fact, I am probably going to get a "B" in the class for overlooking one assignment where I missed half of the information, whoops. The last assignment was the most meaningful I think, and I wanted to save it.

The assignment was to write our strengths and vulnerabilities and list examples. I thought my list was pretty accurate and I wanted to save it for future reference.

Module V – Application Project – Signature Strengths

Some of my strengths are compassion for others, good social skills, a strong desire to be healthy, writing college papers, being non-judgmental, and making friends. An example of my strength in compassion for others is my medical employment background-I have been serving people with medical needs for over 12 years now and I have recognized a unique love for the elderly, persons of color, and the homeless population. My compassion is wide ranging, but those specific populations have my heart. I tend to be extra caring and understanding when I take care of those groups. I also have a strong desire to be healthy, which I am learning more and more that many people do not. I have been on a consistent workout regimen since my teens and enjoy eating all the foods that are very nutritious-I take high interest in my overall health. Writing college papers is also a strength of mine, perhaps not apparent in this course, but I have a way with words and it comes easy to me. I score higher on papers then I ever have on tests.

My vulnerabilities include caring too much about what others think, being highly critical of myself, distasteful candor, insensitivity, and not knowing how to sit still and relax. My insensitivity is to specific things and towards others, such as: “you wouldn’t feel like crap if you just exercised and ate vegetables” or “you wouldn’t be so tired if you exercised and invigorated your mind and body instead of being on electronics for hours”. I don’t take into consideration what other things people might be struggling with and think because I can do it, so can they. In reality, everyone has his or her personal strengths and weaknesses and I shouldn’t compare his or her weaknesses to my strengths. What I mean when I say “distasteful candor” is that I tend to be too honest and it can come across as rude, when I don’t mean it to be. For example, telling someone they look better with brown hair instead of blonde hair-that could be offensive depending on how bluntly I say it. To address the vulnerability of “being too critical of myself”, in one aspect it is good because I always want to improve. However, it has also been a detriment in my life because of the negativity accompanying such thoughts.