Why I Am Great

I am currently enrolled in a Creativity Class by Jim Paredes. I've been out of touch from different forms of media for the past week but I've been writing endlessly. I just want to share one of the things that I wrote as one of our assignments.

If there's anything I learned from this, it's that WE ARE ALL GREAT. We just have to remind ourselves once in a while the reasons why.

Why I am Great

I balance my life in the best way I know how. I am all the roles I play and I am so much more than all these roles. At the age of 24, I am great.

I am a daughter. I'm not the perfect daughter especially when it comes to curfews. But I know, understand, and practice the core values that my parents taught me. I bring those values with me wherever I go. I enjoy spending time with my parents whenever I can. I don't tell them everything but I tell them the most important things. I tell them about my goals, fears, and dreams which are totally different from theirs. As physicians, they are into science. As for me, I am more inclined towards the arts. I'm grateful to them for all the blessings and direction they have given me all these years. To be grateful is great.

I am a sister. I have an older brother, an older sister, and two younger sisters. I have varying levels of relationships with them. I converse with them about different things. With my brother, I have conversations about ideas – almost always the farfetched ones. With my older sister, I have conversations about relationships, clothes, and the far future. With my younger sister, I have conversations about relationships, music, and the near future. With my youngest sister, I have conversations about relationships, health, and the now. With all four of my siblings, I converse about our childhood days including funny anecdotes and how things were when we were kids. There may be petty fights once in a while but ultimately, I think we are learning to go past those. To be able to relate in different personal levels with persons I grow up with is great.

I am a teacher. I teach preschool students in the morning. I teach whoever asks me to teach about anything that I know very well. I'd like to teach students in the university soon. Teaching is sharing. Teaching is learning at the same time. To teach is great.

I am a student. I'm currently writing my thesis to earn a Master's degree in Developmental Psychology. I encounter moments where I find myself feeling lazy to do research but I strive to fight laziness. In those moments where I act and move, I learn more. To learn is great.

I am a friend. I give quality time to my old friends and I also welcome interesting persons whom I meet along the way. When I open myself to them, I find them opening themselves to me. To remove boundaries is great.

I am a writer. I write when I want to, when I feel I have to, and when I need to. I write whatever whenever. I write shallow things. I write deep realizations. I write insights, ideas, and thoughts. I write on paper. I write on air. I write on paper that I stick on walls. When I appreciate my own writings, they come to life. I am my own fan. To appreciate one's work is great.

I am a dreamer. I dream every night and I remember my dreams in the morning. I dream in the morning and I think about these dreams at night. I dream of small dreams and I dream of great ones. To dream is great.

I am a dancer. I dance with music during my own quiet time. I dance with music surrounded by other dance enthusiasts. My energy together with theirs fills the room. I am not the best dancer but I give my best when I dance. Mostly when I am alone, I am the dance and I am the dancer. That is great.

I am my past including all the changes I underwent from then until now. I was a very shy and timid girl who barely spoke a syllable in preschool. I often didn't want to go to school until grade 3. I became part of the Student Council in high school. I once sang on stage with a band with an impromptu number and ended up being cheered on by strangers. I was part of my university's Arnis varsity team and once won a bronze medal in sparring. I taught scholars of Ateneo Tulong Dunong for a summer workshop and helped a student win first place with her oratorical speech. I taught pre-kindergarten kids who are now in grade school. I climbed the Great Wall of China once. I tried out for GamePlan, a local show about sports and adventure, and became one of their female host search finalists without any training in hosting. I learned how to zip and how to take risks while enjoying by spinning fire. I started contributing articles to magazines. I toured Athens and all its archaeological sites earlier this year. All these opportunities came from ordinary things – an e-mail, a question, or a call. All I did was say yes to them. To say yes amidst all the no's in the world is great.

I am my future. I will teach young adults. I will keep on writing. I will finish my novels. I will host my own travel show. I will travel more. I will learn more languages. I will fly to Paris, France because someone told me to just "Go for it!" I will put up my own children's clothes business. I will write children's stories and make their illustrations. My future is filled with goals. To hit those goals is great.

I am committed and in love. I am doing the things I do and I will be doing the things I want to do with someone who have been sharing my dreams and goals with me for the past 4 and a half years. I am entirely different from him and yet we share the same values. I am complete without him and he is complete without me but we choose to be together. With him, I laugh, cry, learn, live, and love. And that is great.

My greatness comes from various aspects of my life and yet my greatness is more than all of them. I am its unifying whole.

And because I am great today, I can be greater tomorrow.

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Now, it's your turn. :)

Why are you great?