Life Time Achievement - Essay Example

We individually possess the power and ability to shape our destiny. Thus the actions we take will determine as to whether we will actualize our dreams or not. This argument has been backed by Leonardo Da Vinci who said, "It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them, they went out and happened to things." To achieve your dream, you have to believe in yourself at all times especially when you are facing discouragements from people around you.

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The lessons I have acquired through life is what has significantly contributed to the person I am today. This is because the lessons have propelled me to know who I am and what I would like to be. As noted by Da Vinci, the curiosity that one build through the life experiences they acquire help them to determine what they want in life (Curiosita). My experiences have made me be hard working, understanding, a team player and helpful person. I learnt to be hard working from my experience in high school. I used to perform poorly during my first years in school. However, as time passed, I realized that the more I concentrated on my studies, the more I improved on in my academic performance. As noted by Giridharan Subramanian, "In any field working hard is always important since once you do that success will always follow."

I also learnt of the importance of hard work from my involvement in track athletics. I used to think that I would always be the best in track races and so I thought I did not need to practice since mine was an inborn talent. However, with time some of my fellow competitors who I used to defeat started beating me. This experience enabled me to learn that with effective training one could become better regardless of how bad they are at what they are doing. The interactions I have had with people around me have taught me how to be understanding. By listening to their stories, I have been able to understand why they act in particular ways. I developed my understanding nature at a young age. My parents taught me to accept the situation we were in. In cases where they could not provide what I needed they made me understand that at time I may not get what I want because of the situation we were in. This quality has enabled me to make many friends who seem different from me under consideration of factors such as race, gender, and religion.

My involvement in various clubs and volunteer groups such as scouting, athletics sports team, and the United Nations youth groups has taught me how to be a good team member. The different projects we involved ourselves in required us to work together, thus we had to know how to accept and appreciate each other's strengths and weaknesses to effectively complete the projects. The experience I had enabled me to change the negative perception I previously had in relation to team work thus I acknowledge that team work helps in turning weaknesses into strengths. Ned Rosen in his book, Teamwork and the bottom line: groups make a difference,' acknowledged that team work allows us to accomplish task that we would find difficult to accomplish on our own. Da Vinci said that we are known for detecting the mistakes in other people's works than in one's own (Dimonstratzione). This shows why team work usually fails yet it is meant to strengthen us.

The communal nature of people living in our neighborhood is what made me be helpful. Individuals used to offer assistance even to strangers without discrimination and the expectation of being rewarded for the help they rendered. My involvement in various volunteering groups also highly contributed in building the helpful nature that I possess. The groups enabled me to interact with many people who were faced with different problematic issues. A majority of those who I interacted with were unable to meet basic needs, others were terminally ill and other had been affected by a form of natural disaster that had destroyed their homes.

The unique thing that I noted from those people was the fact that they helped each other out despite the fact that they we currently in a needy state. During our visit to one of the disaster stricken areas, I managed to interview a man called Derrick Wenger. Derrick was a sickling guy who was suffering from cancer with his home destroyed by floods. In our interview, Derrick said to me, "The secret of living happily is in helping since in this world we all have problems and thus we should always help each other despite the situation we find ourselves in." His words got to me since despite the many challenges that Derrick was facing he was always happy and ready to help out. Altay and Green said, Disasters are intractable problems that test the ability of humans to support each other. Their description and view of disaster is shared by people like Derrick and me.

In conclusion, the act of discovering ourselves and actualizing our dreams requires determination and the willingness to go on despite the fact that you may not know what the future holds. Like Da Vinci argued we will be able to realize our full potential only when we embrace uncertainty (Sfumato).

Work Cited

Altay, Nezih, and Walter G. Green. "OR/MS research in disaster operations management." European journal of operational research 175.1 (2006): 475-493.

Gelb, Michael J. How to think like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven steps to genius every day. Dell, 2009.Giridharan, Subramanian." Hard work Pays." My thoughts. February 6th 2012.Retrieved from https://girisopinion.com/2012/02/06/hard-work-always-pays/

Rosen, Ned. Teamwork and the bottom line: groups make a difference. Psychology Press, 2014.Wenger, Derrick July 18, 2016

Annotated Bibliography

Altay, Nezih, and Walter G. Green. "OR/MS research in disaster operations management." European journal of operational research 175.1 (2006): 475-493.

Nezih and Green have presented a great analysis of disaster. Their writing has helped me to present my view of problematic situations thus enabling me to effectively define my characters in relation to my life.

Gelb, Michael J. How to think like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven steps to genius every day. Dell, 2009.Gelb in his book focuses on telling the stories of Leonardo Da Vinci. He effectively presents the seven steps that Da Vinci applied during his life time and relates it to modern life style. Gelb analysis has enabled me to connect my life desire and determination to the path followed by legends such as Da Vinci himself.

Giridharan, Subramanian." Hard work Pays." My thoughts. February 6th 2012.Retrieved from https://girisopinion.com/2012/02/06/hard-work-always-pays/

Giridharan writing has enabled me to show why hard work is an essential element to success. His educational journey is inspirational and shows how hard work and concentration can lead you to greater heights.

Rosen, Ned. Teamwork and the bottom line: groups make a difference. Psychology Press, 2014.Rosen in his book has focused on highlighting some of the benefits of working as a team. His book has enabled me to explain how important the ability to work in a team has been to me.