Growth Mindset: Growth Mindset Meme

I need feedback to help me grow. Image source: Blogspot.

I really like this meme/quote because it is so simple, yet so powerful. The words it's saying are true!!! We truly cannot grow as people without feedback. If we could reach our fullest potential all by ourselves, we wouldn't need school, or parenting, or mentors, or advice. 

In order to become better in whatever it is - a sport, a school subject, controlling emotions, learning, anything - we have to be able to receive feedback. This is such a simple concept, but not so easy to accept all the time. Sometimes we feel that we don't need other's input or we don't want people telling us what to do. The hardest part is learning how to accept it and take it with a grain of salt in order to improve ourselves every day!

When The Time Comes

It was a cloudy Sunday in May of 2008, and Roger Keaton lay sound asleep in a St. Francis Hospital bed. His family was all standing close by: his three daughters, son, and six grandkids. Tension filled the room. Granddad hadn’t been doing so well since his last round of chemo – pancreatic cancer.

Like anyone, Roger’s family was constantly in a state of worry because no one knew when his time to leave them would come. However, even more so for Roger’s family, because the doctor predicted that he would only live to be 68, which was only one year after his diagnosis. Pancreatic cancer is a mean and violent disease. For Roger to live as long as he had was a miracle in itself – he was now 74. So the anticipation was amplified times ten for the Keaton family because their beloved Roger could literally be taken from them at any second.

He had good and bad days, but the adults in the family knew the time was nearing and they could hardly bear it.

The youngest of Roger’s children, his baby girl Lillian, walked to his side and broke down into flowing tears as she cried, “Daddy, I don’t know what I’m gonna do without you here.”

Roger replied with wisdom like he always did, and comforted Lillian with his kind words.

“Lil, let go of your own plan and accept God’s. I am prepared to stand at the gates of Heaven whenever my time comes, whether it be today or ten years from now. You’ll always be my baby girl, and just as I have kept my eye on you since the day you were born, I will do the same even when I am gone.”

“I love you, Daddy.”

“I love you too, Lily Pad.” He had called her that since she was a baby. Lily Pad. Lillian used to hate it, but hearing it now sounded so sweet.

Roger then called his oldest son Mark over to his bedside.

“Mark, you’re a good man. A great father. A faithful servant. An inspiring teacher. An encouraging friend. And not to mention, my favorite son ever.” Mark gave a meek chuckle knowing he was his father's only son.

Holding back tears, Mark replied, “I will make you proud, Dad. I will honor this family and the Keaton name until-“

“I trust that you will, son. I have all the faith in you. Now don’t cry. You’re no wimp.” Roger always had a dry sense of humor. Somehow it made him obnoxious, but so charming at the same time. Everyone loved him.


The days passed slowly. Two weeks later on June 3rd, 2008 Roger Keaton passed away in that same St. Francis Hospital bed. His family mourned as they watched him take his last breath. An incredible mix of deep sorrow and adoring love filled the room as family members cried, and tried to process what was happening. Bible hymns were playing in the room as they were Roger’s favorite. The whole family sang along and smiled knowing that their father and granddad was right where he was supposed to be.

Bibliography

PDE Mahabharata. Link to reading.

Author's Note

I changed this story quite a bit, but writing it came so naturally.

This is a story taken from the death of Bhishma. He got to choose when he died, and he instructed others as to what to do when he died. Here, I took a more emotional approach. I wrote about a person who could not choose when to die, but was ready when the time came near. I included a real life situation with my main character's family being there and experiencing the pain of what was happening to him. I made the story into a more realistic version, or a more real life take on what went on in the PDE Mahabharata. The physical death of Bhishma is similar of that to Roger's in my story in that he died with his loved ones around him. He told stories and advised the others what to do following his death.
I chose this generic picture because I thought it was just a sweet representation of a family. That's the most important thing about this story. The plot is based on the grandfather dying, but that is not meant to be the focus. It's about the love and respect the family has for each other and how that both makes his death harder, but leaves them with peace as well. I would say most of us have either personally suffered the loss of someone special to us, or have known someone who has lost a loved one. So I think this is relatable and makes an emotional connection to a reader more than the original Mahabharata version. It's more personal.

Family Portrait. Image source: online.

Story Planning: Jatakas Tales (undecided)

Okay so I wrote a story planning post two weeks ago, but didn't have time to write the story. But I started reading cute children's tales and decided I wanted to write about one of them.

the girl monkey and the string of pearls
queen getting in lake w king, giving servant her pearls sees a girl money in trees, wanting to snatch the pearls
someone lesser or below you wanting what you have, envy, jealousy, theft
guard falls asleep perfect time for monkey to swoop in
guard suspects girl monkeys - cover being blown
all the monkeys got the bead traps, made jealous girl monkey come out with her pearls, green and pride and jealousy for the L
caught

the three fishes
thoughtful, very thoughtful, and thoughtless were their names
leave home to go somewhere else, VT says should go back
cautious sibling.
of course they don’t listen and get caught in a net
VT wants to save them, so mad at someone for being an idiot, but having to save them bc you love them
yay
after that they listened and all went home

the penny-wise monkeyaw king was gonna take over a little kingdom, saw a monkey drop peas and lose all of them over one
learned a lesson from the monkey

decided to be grateful for what he had and went back home i could definitely make something of this

I picked my three favorite from the several that I read yesterday, but have not chosen which one I want to make a story out of. However, I have decided that I want to expand on these stories. All of my other stories I have taken the themes/situations of the stories I read and changed them into modern examples that were related to them. But with these, I just want to add more detail, maybe switch up the plots a bit. I am excited to pick which one I will write on!

Bibliography:

More Jataka Tales. Link to reading.

Author: Ellen C. Babbitt

The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls. Image source: WhisperingBooks.

Reading Notes: More Jataka Tales Part A

Bibliography

More Jataka Tales. Link to reading.

Author: Ellen C. Babbitt

the girl monkey and the string of pearls
queen getting in lake w king, giving servant her pearls sees a girl money in trees, wanting to snatch the pearls
someone lesser or below you wanting what you have, envy, jealousy, theft
guard falls asleep perfect time for monkey to swoop in
guard suspects girl monkeys - cover being blown
all the monkeys got the bead traps, made jealous girl monkey come out with her pearls, green and pride and jealousy for the L
caught

the three fishes
thoughtful, very thoughtful, and thoughtless were their names
leave home to go somewhere else, VT says should go back
cautious sibling.
of course they don’t listen and get caught in a net
VT wants to save them, so mad at someone for being an idiot, but having to save them bc you love them
yay
after that they listened and all went home

the tricky wolf and the rats
big rat is chief
tricky wolf is gonna catch them, waits then plays tricks on rats so they will have sympathy to eat him
deceit, trickery, mean
ate last one out every time
selfish, deceitful
whah chief rat tricked and bit his neck and killed wolf
sneak attack, least expecting it, student outsmarts the master

the woodpecker, turtle, and deer
friends
deer trapped by hunter, ugh
woodpecker suggests turtle gnawing at trap
friends helping friends no matter what the risk
woodpecker flew to hunters house and hit him in the face when he came out
team work
woodpecker outsmarting hunter
turtle bleeding but deer breaks free just in time
turtle got caught :(
deer wants to save him
saved him, get away from hunter live happily together
happily ever after story **

the golden goose
poor fam, goose gives her golden feathers
charity, kindness
greedy mourned the golden feathers
greed never wins - theme and lesson

the stupid monkeys
no

the penny-wise monkey
aw king was gonna take over a little kingdom, saw a monkey drop peas and lose all of them over one
learned a lesson from the monkey
decided to be grateful for what he had and went back home i could definitely make something of this

the woodpecker and the lion
lion bone stuck in throat while eating
offers to save life but is too scared to get eaten, lion says he won’t eat him
woodpecker got it out, but lion didn’t even say thanks
uh oh
woodpecker asked something of lion, he said no i already did the best thing for you didn’t eat you
hmm, don’t want to write about that

Penny-wise monkey. Image Source: TonyKinsey.

Reading Notes: Sacred Tales of India Part D

SACRIFICED TO VARUNA

brahman digging for water, never finds any
working so hard, failing again and again, tells son, he’s sad
sacrifices son for water

i was liking this story until the sacrificing of the son


JOYABATI— THE GIFT OF JOYA
girl out on a mission - girl power - well wishers
rich mans mansion, guy won’t accept food from daughterless rich guy, asks him for a daughter
has daughter searches for joydev
get married
he’s being protective
take care of child - aw


THE WIFE WHO USED TO EAT THE LAST MORSEL
daughter in law all her babies died in the cradle because she ate the first morsel before the gods and thats sacrilegious
her mother in law took care of it
after she stopped sinning, she had lively babies <3

The Wife Who Used to Eat the Last Morsel. Image source: Archive.

Bibliography

Sacred Tales of India

D. N. Neogi

Google Timer Tech Tip

I actually had no idea that Google had a timer! I struggle with time management sometimes, and I will definitely be using this tool in the future. 

Usually I just look at the clock and say, okay well in 30 minutes I will move on to my next assignment. But this technique has not been effective. I think the Google timer is cool because it alerts you when the time you set is up! A lot of times when I use the watch-the-clock technique, I end up not sticking to my times.

I think this is a great tool especially for people who struggle with the same issue I do, but it's great for anyone! Everyone needs a little reminder every now and then.

Learning Challenge: Health/Happiness Meme

CtrlAltDel Meme. Image Source: Blogspot.

This was a the first meme on the page, but as I scrolled through all of them, this one stayed my favorite. I am a big believer in doing everything you can to help yourself. You never know what other people will do, and you never know what will happen. Life is ever-changing, and being able to deal with hard situations is something we all have to learn how to do. And it starts within! This meme represents 3 simple steps to the start of the control of your life. Now, don't get me wrong, you can't really control much in life. Things will happen, sometimes for no apparent reason at all, so all you can do is control how you react to those things. 

I really like this meme and think that it's message is important to remember in our every day life.