Tag Archives: character

22

What’s on the Inside?

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character traitsEvery person contains within them the same capacity for good and evil. Our life experiences and our reaction to them dictate which character traits are dominant in our lives. Knowing that change is always possible is an essential factor. If you don’t like a particular aspect of your life, you can change it by adjusting your focus on things, which will change who you are on the inside.

Your perspective is the most crucial facet in facilitating positive change in your life, and that means that you have to understand, believe that you are capable of change, and desire to change to a more positive mindset. Know what type of person you want to be and develop those character traits.

Seven Positive Character Traits

There are many character traits that all people possess to character traitssome degree or another, and I am focusing on curiosity, optimism, gratitude, social intelligence, self-control, enthusiasm, and perseverance.  Looking inside yourself, you will see these things existing, and how much you contain each is determined by your personality and life experience so far.

Honestly, look at yourself and what you bring to the table, and you will see that all of these things exist in you, but you have different proficiency levels in them. You may be very adept at following your curiosity but need to work on your perseverance. All of these traits can lead to your success, and knowing where to focus your energy will help you grow and become the person you desire to be.

What is your Mindset

It is a simple choice of a mindset that will determine how much and how easily you will grow. Do you have a fixed mindset? Or do you have mindseta growth mindset?

A fixed mindset will tell you that the skills and talents are all you get. You fail at something; then you will give up and conclude that it isn’t in the cards for you to do that. This mindset is limiting, and people maintain this to protect themselves from the pain of failure, self-doubt, and insecurity.  Yet we are only as limited as our minds tell us we can be. If this is your predominant mindset, don’t give up. Work to change it. You can grow!

The growth mindset is that all things are continually changing, and you may not be able to do something at this moment. Still, you are capable of developing the skills and talents needed to accomplish almost anything. This mindset opens all doors and allows you to look at the character traits discussed above and know that any you are weak at right now can become strengths with focus and work.

Growth Allows Possibility

Developing a growth mentality is the most important step a person can make. Growth will bring hope and love into your life, while any character traitslimits you place on yourself will lead to more lack in your life. Your mind is an incredible tool that you can put to work for you by learning how to allow it to grow. For any positive character traits mentioned above, a person has to look for areas that need improvement and then focus on things that develop that area.  Be more enthusiastic about what you are doing, or persevere in pursuing your goals.

Whatever you need to work at, work at it, and allow growth to come. When you are not growing, you are dying. That is the simple choice we make in life each day. There is no middle ground where we stay the same. Seeking to develop positive character traits in yourself will allow higher personal growth.

All people are born with the potential for greatness in some way. How much you believe this statement often dictates how much success or failure you experience in life.

 

22

Character Development

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Character- the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual.

CharacterIn our development as people, we result from the experience we endure in life. This fact is particularly actual when it comes to a person’s character. Either we have a good or bad feeling. The type we are provides a quality that is displayed clearly through a person’s thoughts, words, and actions. If you have traits you wish to improve yourself, we all have the free will to do this. Think about your character today, not just the areas you are doing well, but all of the ones you want to improve in. Character is what you do when you think nobody is looking. Remember, you are always looking. You can’t fool yourself. Consciously develop the character you want to represent you and share it with the world. It will be your legacy, one way or the other. The great news is you get to decide what impact you will have.

Character is in Constant Development

A person’s character is not chiseled in stone the day they are born, and it is developed through conscious choice over a lifetime. It has many aspects to Characterit. The way you treat others, level of honesty valued in life, consistency of behavior, the story of courage, ability to think, confidence in yourself, integrity, and many other factors all combine to create your character. We are taught many of these things, but we are continually adding to them through experience, even if we are not conscious of this process. People enter your life and change you, and a new understanding of loss or gain shifts your perspective.

Once you know that you can develop your character, there is no excuse not to find ways to improve. It involves two simple things:  1. honesty about yourself and  2. a willingness to grow and develop. Nothing is stopping you from enhancing but your self-imposed limitations. Find your strong points and celebrate them. Find areas in need of improvement, set goals to get better, take action to do just that. At the end of life, you will be the one responsible for all that you did or did not do. There is no deceiving yourself then. Don’t lie to yourself now. Develop your character exactly as you want it to be. Your choices in every moment of every day decide if your character traits or positive or negative.

Your Character Is Important

Not only will your positive or negative character influence your own life, but it will have sway over everyone you come in contact with as well. There is an energy connected to each thought we have, and positive or negative will be evident to those we have a connection with on our daily journey. Think of Characterthe people you enjoy having contact with, and think of those you don’t. With every interaction you have each day, the person you interact with has one of those two reactions. Your character determines which one.

Your choices in character will stem from your preferences of thought. It is a constant struggle to maintain the positive qualities of honesty over deceit, kindness over meanness, giving over selfishness, confidence over doubt, or love over fear. The decisions we make in character are vitally important because they determine your real value to the world and its collective consciousness. Developing a better attitude improves the world.

Tough Times Build Character

Stressful moments are, unfortunately, a part of living life. Tough times come to us, whether we feel we want them or need them. But there is an element of need we all have of roadblocks in life to grow into the best versions of ourselves. It is impossible to see what good can come from a situation when you are in a storm of pain and suffering. You are just in survival mode. But as that mode kicks in, you have to start to grow and change, or you will be overwhelmed and unhappy for the rest of your life.

Finding hidden strength and talent waiting hidden in your being is the reward for tough times. The character still maintains the things you think are correct even though the pain and sadness of life are real characters. In these extreme moments of choice, our true person is developed and revealed to the world. If you don’t like who you are becoming, then choose differently. The development of a positive life or a negative existence is all up to you and the choices you make.

Be Conscious of Your Character

CharacterThat makes the challenge today to look at your character honestly and critically. It isn’t easy to look at the fiber of our being and see where we fall short. But it is in this realistic vision your path of improvement will become evident. Do you need to be more honest? Braver? Follow through better? Be kinder? Be more accepting? Love yourself more? Whatever the points in need of improvement are, you can change and improve them. Nothing can stop you except for you. Be conscious of your character and what makes up your vital essence of today’s thoughts, words, and actions. By developing this element of your personality, you will be defined to the world: one way or another. There is no covering up or hiding from the results.

“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” –Helen Keller

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character.” –Albert Einstein

“The best index to a person’s character is how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and how he treats people who can’t fight back.” –Abigail Van Buren

 

21

Character

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My goal is to establish a positive focus every morning by focusing on a positive word or phrase. There are enough negative influences in the world, and I believe that through a conscious focus of thought, we can improve our emotions, words, and actions and make the world a better place one thought, feeling, word, and move at a time.   What is Your character today?  

Character Is

The mental and moral qualities an individual possesses determine the contents of nature.  This benefit is not something you are born with; it is a force you manage throughout your life. Character is a series of daily choices you make in where you spend your attention, your time, and, most importantly, how you choose to deal with other people.

Your character is ever-evolving and can be redefined many times throughout your life.  Today, at this moment, is the only chance you have to reveal what you are made of, and that makes all of your decisions valuable to what you are and the energy you produce each day. Character is what you do when you think nobody is looking.  Remember, you are always looking. You can’t fool yourself.  Consciously develop the style you want to represent you.

The Shifting Sands of Character

When you are born, you do not have any character. As you grow in life, you make choices in how you deal with others and what you accept for yourself, which will define you to the world.  It is important to remember that if you behave selfishly or negatively towards others, that defines your character and is who you are.  Focus on the things you do in each moment, the decisions you make, the actions you take, and the thoughts you are focusing on in your life.  Do they honor you? At the end of your life, when you look back at this moment, is it going to be one that you are proud of representing you?

If it isn’t, then you have a chance to change your outlook by making more positive choices.  Each moment contains a decision: to be happy or sad, kind or mean, loving or fearful, the sum of your options will define your character.  Once you understand you can develop that character, you have no excuse not to become a better person.  Two simple things are involved:  honesty about who you are and a willingness to grow and improve. Only your self-imposed limitations can stop you from progressing.

Set Goals, Be Better

When you look at yourself and your thoughts and behaviors, honestly, there will be two categories: Things you are doing well and things you want to improve.  Look at your choices, which enhance and display the character you wish to possess.  Enjoy them and feel good about who you are! Then look at where improvement is needed.  Set some goals to become better, and then take action by implementing them in your life.  If you feel you need to be kinder to people, then make that a conscious focus of your day.  When you see a deficit in generosity, then look for ways to be more generous with the positive things in your life.   Don’t deceive yourself; your character results from the daily conscious or subconscious choices you make daily. Only you decide this.

Why Character is Important

Developing your character matters because it will define who you are and how you contribute to the world.  All people are complicated, and we possess both the capability for great good and great evil.  The conscious choices we make determine the path we walk down.   Your preferences for the character will decide who you are in this life.   Are you a positive force for good, or do you choose to be a negative force for evil? That is why our character has value. It determines the choices we have made in the world and how we decide to work with life.

It is a constant battle inside every person to maintain the positive qualities of honesty over deceit, kindness over meanness, giving over selfishness, confidence over doubt, or love over fear.  Your value to the world and its collective experience is defined and determined by your character’s choices. Developing a better character is going to make the world collectively more positive.

Challenge today

The simple challenge today is to examine your choices right now with clarity and honesty.  Where are they leading you?  Define the areas you are doing well and feel positive about it.  Define the improvement that is needed and create goals to become better.  The character you define is your own, and you are solely responsible for the kind of person you will be today and in this life.

Quotes on Character

“Most people say that it’s the intellect which makes a great scientist, and they are wrong: it is character.” – Albert Einstein.

“Character is the result of two things: Mental attitude and the way we spend our time.”  – Elbert Hubbard

“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character” – Albert Einstein

“Character is what you know you are, not what others think you have” –Unknown

 

 

21

Soulmate

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do soulmates existDo you believe that there is a soulmate out there for everyone?  At first impulse, I often think, “No Way!” But then I did a little thinking…….

What is a Soul Mate?

soulmate3This definition needs to be established first, and according to the internet, here is the description:

Soul Mate- a person, ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner.

In this context, I am not sure how anyone could argue against definition of soulmatethe concept. We all have these people in our lives who are uniquely qualified to be a lover or friend over another person.  They provide a unique understanding of the place you come from and help you understand your journey and that you are still OK after taking it.

Often, we look at ourselves and see the parts of us that we can’t fathom anyone loving. The ugly scars on the inside and out that life have left on our faces and our souls. Yet a soul mate can look at those scars, and suddenly they don’t seem to matter to them. They see character or toughness or experience that provides attractiveness to them. The scars don’t seem to matter at all. I have been fortunate enough to have experienced this in my life.

I think this is a question that has to be answered by each individual for themselves. Connections are made every day between people, and who is to say that they are soulmates or just random acquaintances.  It is more than simply a romantic notion.  I believe in the thought of a mirror. That we all need to have our weaknesses reflected on us to overcome them. Once the strange, uncomfortable differences in each of us are exposed, and we are still accepted anyway, that is the purpose of a soulmate.  In each other, we find the strength to be our true selves.

In the end, being loved for your unique thought, action, and essence are what life is all about. Everyone deserves that at some point in their lives. There is something magical in the world of growth that occurs when we are given a chance to see our weaknesses.

To me, there is no doubt that soulmates exist, and we are each destined to meet them. If you haven’t met yours yet, then it could happen tomorrow.  Perhaps you already know them and don’t realize it.

Life Lessons

My Character

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 Character Strengths Evaluation

A while ago, I took a  quiz online that would reveal my strengths and characterweaknesses.   It was called the VIA Character Strengths profile test.

Be prepared; it is a rather lengthy test. This post is about the results I got from taking the test.

I enjoy doing creative things because, most often, they reveal a lot about yourself. I will show you what they said were my strengths and then give my opinion on their validity and value because that’s what I do.

This report is what their website says about the test: “Your character strengths are already within you, but isolating and identifying them can be complicated, confusing, and incredibly time-consuming. The VIA Me! Character Strengths Profile is designed to help you quickly discover the strengths you already have and gain more in-depth insight into what makes you who you are. ” 

The link to the survey is HERE. It takes about 20-30 minutes to complete.

My overall assessment was that the test is interesting and worth the time to complete. I did not agree with everything, but it is interesting to consider where a test puts your character compared to what you believe in your mind.

Your Top Character Strength

Forgiveness
You forgive those who have done you wrong. You always give people a second chance. Your guiding principle is mercy and not revenge.

My thought: It is true, there is no need to carry a grudge. All things happen for a reason. To hold a grievance is belittling to you and stops you from growing and moving forward. This stance was not always the case in my life. 

Your Second Character Strength

Curiosity
You are curious about everything. You are always asking questions, and you find all subjects and topics fascinating. You like exploration and discovery.

My thought: Since I love trying these types of things to see what will happen and what I can learn, I would have to agree with this. I am curious, and it is a strength. I want to know the answers to questions. 

Your Third Character Strength

Fairness
Treating all people fairly is one of your abiding principles. You do not let your personal feelings bias your decisions about other people. You give everyone a chance.

My thoughts: Also accurate, I try to leave judgment at the door when making decisions. I don’t care about lifestyle, clothing, religion, or anything else. It is humanity that counts. 

Your Fourth Character Strength

Gratitude
You are aware of the good things that happen to you, and you never take them for granted. Your friends and family members know that you are a grateful person because you always take the time to express your thanks.

My thoughts: I am very grateful for everything. I have, within the last month, but my gratitude journal in writing, and it has helped me a lot. Being thankful for what you have is one of the keys to being happy, I think. 

Your Fifth Character Strength

Social intelligence
You are aware of the motives and feelings of other people. You know what to do to fit into different social situations, and you know what to do to put others at ease.

My thoughts: Yes, this is true; I can “get along with all different types of people. I enjoy the differences and put their comfort first over my own. 

Character Strength #6

Humor
You like to laugh and tease. Bringing smiles to other people is essential to you. You try to see the light side of all situations.

My thoughts: Also, a direct hit here. At one time, I think this would have been further up the list, but self-development and growth have moved past this, but I always have and always will like to laugh and make others happy. 

Character Strength #7

Zest
Regardless of what you do, you approach it with excitement and energy. You never do anything halfway or halfheartedly. For you, life is an adventure.

At one time, I don’t think this was the case, but I think it is moving further up the list. I try to enjoy everything I do. The experience is to be appreciated. Writing this is an experience I will never precisely experience again. Everything is an adventure.

Character Strength #8

Creativity
Thinking of new ways to do things is a crucial part of who you are. You are never content with doing something the conventional way if a better way is possible.

My thoughts: Moving up the list fast. Earlier in life, I never appreciated the power of creativity. It allows you to reach your soul or authentic self and is enjoyable in every way. Be creative in whatever form you feel moved to create. 

Character Strength #9

Honesty
You are an honest person, not only by speaking the truth but by living your life genuinely and authentically. You are down to earth, and without pretense, you are a “real” person.

My thought: I think this should be number one since I believe in honesty so much.  What you give is what you get. 

Character Strength #10

Judgment
Thinking things through and examining them from all sides are important aspects of who you are. You do not jump to conclusions, and you rely only on substantial evidence to make your decisions. You can change your mind.

My thought: Despite what some friends might think, I agree with this because I will change my mind when faced with facts or evidence to the contrary of what I believe. I do not abandon my perspective quickly. Thinking things through is a great definition. 

Character Strength #11

Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence
You notice and appreciate beauty, excellence, and skilled performance in all domains of life, from nature to art to mathematics to science to everyday experience.

My thought: Yes, I do. I see the magic in each talent and interest. Even if I am not all that interested in the subject of someone’s creation, I respect the work. I love blogs, which talk about things I am not interested in, but the beauty of the presentation makes me curious. 

Character Strength #12

Love of learning
You love learning new things, whether in a class or on your own. You have always loved school, reading, and museums-anywhere, and everywhere there is an opportunity to learn.

I have written about my love of learning and the fact that it is a lifelong process. I don’t think I was an excellent learner until two years ago because I became interested in learning.  Learning is cool!

Character Strength #13

Spirituality
You have strong and coherent beliefs about the higher purpose and meaning of the universe. You know where you fit in the larger scheme. Your beliefs shape your actions and are a source of comfort to you.

My thoughts: More and more every day, I think that my connection with God has never been stronger, and I believe there is some understanding on my part. 

Character Strength #14

Perspective
Although you may not think of yourself as wise, your friends hold this view of you. They value your perspective on matters and turn to you for advice. You have a way of looking at the world that makes sense to others and yourself.

My thoughts: I think this is true, but only other people can say for sure, I guess. 

Character Strength #15

Love
You value close relations with others, in particular, those in which sharing and caring are reciprocated. The people to whom you feel most close are the same people who feel most close to you.

My thoughts: I think that this is true for everyone.

Character Strength #16

Hope
You expect the best in the future, and you work to achieve it. You believe that the end is something that you can control.

My thought: I do, to some degree, believe this, but I am more resigned to the fact that we are at best only partially in control of what is coming our way in life. 

Character Strength #17

Prudence
You are a careful person, and your choices are consistently prudent. You do not say or do things that you might later regret.

My Thoughts: I can see why this is further down the list.  Like all people, I say some things I later regret. 

Character Strength #18

Kindness
You are kind and generous to others, and you are never too busy to do a favor. You enjoy doing good deeds for others, even if you do not know them well.

My thoughts: Who doesn’t?

Character Strength #19

Teamwork
You excel as a member of a group. You are a loyal and dedicated teammate, you always do your share, and you work hard for the success of your group.

My thought: I thought that this would be further up on the list, but who am I to argue. Even though I love the team atmosphere, I enjoy doing my own thing as well. I should apologize to all of those teams  I was on. I should have given a better effort. 🙂

Character Strength #20

Leadership
You excel at the tasks of leadership: encouraging a group to get things done and preserving harmony within the group by making everyone feel included. You do a suitable job organizing activities and seeing that they happen.

I also thought this would be closer to the top, but perhaps at one time, it would have. I believe everyone should feel included and has value in the accomplishment of tasks.

Character Strength #21

Self-Regulation
You self-consciously regulate what you feel and what you do. You are a disciplined person. You are in control of your appetites and your emotions, not vice versa.

My thoughts: Sometimes, yes, this has to be monitored by me. I need to practice discipline.

Character Strength #22

Perseverance
You work hard to finish what you start. No matter the project, you “get it out the door” in a timely fashion. You do not get distracted when you work, and you take satisfaction in completing tasks.

My thoughts: I am still writing this. Even at #22, so that is some perseverance right there.  I do stick to things and get them done. 

Character Strength #23

Bravery
You are a courageous person who does not shrink from threat, challenge, difficulty, or pain. You speak up for what is right, even if there is opposition. You act on your convictions.

My thoughts: Perhaps this should go higher on the list. I think I have acted pretty bravely in my life. I am doing what is right, even when it was uncomfortable. But you can’t argue with the test. 

Character Strength #24

Humility
You do not seek the spotlight, preferring to let your accomplishments speak for themselves. You do not regard yourself as unique, and others recognize and value your modesty.

My Thoughts: What does it say about my humility if it is the last trait listed in this test. I think I must need to realign my priorities. Being humble is necessary. Perhaps something I need to work on.