my character and my day

May 01, 2012

my character and my day

so there are a few things i am working on right now in an effort to refine my character. the most pressing include:
-to be more patient (specifically with other students at university---i find myself getting super impatient and frustrated with people that hold their own conversations during lectures, hello i am paying a lot of money to hear these lectures; others that are loud in the supposed-to-be-super-quiet reading room in the library; essentially people that lack basic etiquette and manners in general)
-to remain focused
-to make my words more "mild as milk"
-no judging
-no back-biting
also, to drink more water (when i worked full-time i was able to drink 2 liters of water per day, since being in school full time i find there is less time for that as the amount of times i have to run to the bathroom to 'eliminate' is considerable)
-eat more fruits and veggies
what? these last two aren't character refining acts you say? oh yes they are---i strongly believe that what i fuel my body with impacts my attitude and my health in general which subsequently influences my conduct.

these things i struggle with at the moment. partially because it takes genuine effort and partly because i forget. which means that 1) i need to slow down in my actions and speech and 2) that i need to really bring myself to account each day. in the Baha'i Faith, we are told to bring ourselves to account each day in order to determine the aspects in which we succeeded and which need more work. this is incredibly helpful and a major eye-opener for me. not that i'm mean or rude or whatever on purpose, but just that sometimes i act or speak before i actually process. so that's me. what about you?

also, this was my day today:

my notes during my music appreciation class. this Berlioz guy was seriously crazy. he was a romantic period composer, performer, conductor. he spoke french. he saw a shakespearean play in english, not understanding a word of it. fell in love with the actress. began to stalk her, write her letters in french and send her flowers. he wrote a creepy symphony for her. symphonie fantastique. listen to it, it's really creepy. about a man who falls in love with a woman, she doesn't love him back. he tries to overdose on opium but instead just trips out and has drug-induced hallucinations in which he kills his beloved and is then executed courtesy of the guillotine. he goes to hell and is followed by his beloved who is now a witch, and her witchy friends. in real life, actress finds this endearing and marries crazy composer. she ends up drinking herself to death from depression. told you. crazy.