My Best Self 101 Blog
Please join me on a quick imaginative journey. You are enjoying a sunny day on the beach and decide to go for a swim. As you head to the ocean, you don’t quite make it around the piece of driftwood in your path and end up getting cut. Instead of taking the time to clean and put a band-aid on the cut you get angry and rub sand into the cut, making it worse. Now, you may be thinking, “Why would I do that? That is just going to hurt me further? Why not help myself instead?”
What comes to mind when you think of fall? Maybe it's the crisp autumn air, with gentle gusts of wind tussling your hair and tickling your nose. Or perhaps it's the scents of pumpkin spice and apple cinnamon floating around in homes and shops. You might consider pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and laughter as kids run around in costumes collecting candy. There may be memories of cinnamon rolls, pie, and Thanksgiving around a table with friends and family.
For my fall semester of school, I decided to challenge myself by taking a new language class. As I walked in, excitement soon turned into anxiety. I was the only person with no prior experience in the language, and it felt as if everyone else had already mastered the basics. I stumbled through simple phrases, unsure of myself, while others seemed far more confident. It was hard. There is a part of me that wants to hide or give up, but I am realizing something powerful in the process: there is bravery in being a beginner. It requires strength to admit that I don’t know something and even more courage to embrace the learning process.
As I recently visited Haleakala National Park in Maui, I was reminded of some valuable lessons about having a growth mindset while ascending to the top of that 10,023 ft volcano. Haleakala means “House of the Sun” in Hawaiian. Legend has it that the demi-God, Maui, lassoed the sun from its path across the sky as he stood atop the volcano. Now the sun sleeps in the crater each night and creates world-famous sunrises and sunsets. The 37-mile road up to the summit is known to be the highest elevation gain within the shortest distance in the world. Due to the steep elevation gain and the ability to move quickly in a vehicle, the transitions in weather and ecology as one travels up the mountain are stark– traveling through areas of expansive vegetation, thick mist, and eventually the mostly barren volcanic terrain with a birdseye view of the mountain’s “lei” of clouds. As I recently visited Haleakala’s summit, I was reminded of some valuable lessons about having a growth mindset while ascending to the top of that 10,023 ft volcano.
