Autobiography the First Low Point

Autobiography

The first low point in my life was the death of my cat when I was eleven.

She had been my companion for six years and died unexpectedly after being hit by a car. I had blamed myself for the accident, feeling that I should have done a better job of taking care of her. Two years later I lost my grandmother who had died a slow and painful death from Alzheimer's Disease. Even worse than my own grief was the pain of watching the sorrow in my own family, particularly my mother and grandfather. My next traumatic experience was being the victim of a car accident caused by a driver who was speeding. I had resented being injured by a person who was so careless.

One of the high points in my life is being elected as President of my student council. The vote of confidence from my fellow students was gratifying and this opportunity has provided me with invaluable leadership experience. Another event that has brought me tremendous joy is being named most valuable player by my soccer team. There's great satisfaction in contributing to team success. And, another life defining event was falling in love for the first time when I was sixteen. Although the relationship had ended, in many ways the love will never die; it is an experience I will always remember.

I believe that the most important strength one can possibly have is giving something one's very best effort. You may not always succeed, but when you don't you still have the spiritual benefit from the effort that you've made. And, you can be happier in life when you do succeed because you know that you are getting exactly what you have earned.

Empathy is a strength that is needed for true happiness. It is hard to be happy when those around you are not. It is easy to empathize with people who we know or who are in similar situations. The true challenge is to reach out to people who we do not know so that we can understand and help them.

Forgiveness is also a great strength and is often believed to be something you do for someone else. However, I believe it is something you do for yourself to release the anger and pain you feel when someone has caused you harm. To refuse is to forgive is to continue having those negative emotions.

I believe that jealousy is a major weakness because it jeopardizes your own chances of success. While this emotion may appear to be directed at others, it's really about your own insecurity that you don't measure up to another person in some way. In most instances, someone will always be better at something than another individual. The key to teamwork is to take advantage of everyone's strengths, but jealousy jeopardizes this wonderful opportunity.