Everybody has their own ways of bringing themselves happiness. For some people, it’s sports, for others it’s family, or for others it may be social events, but none of these fit me. Helping others is what brings me happiness. I’ve always had this desire inside of me for making a difference in someone’s life. Of course simple acts like holding the door for others or giving someone a gift are nice gestures that bring me happiness but sometimes they don’t quite grant my desire. I truly believe that helping others brings happiness because nothing compares to the feeling of giving without expecting anything back.
As soon as we were presented the IA project, without thinking, I knew I had to do something that involves community service. Since I recently started taking piano lessons, I thought I could maybe bring these two factors together. After changing my project various times, I finally figured out what I wanted to learn about and later apply - music therapy. This therapy uses music as a powerful tool to create positive behavior changes. For the past four weeks I’ve been spending time with my friend’s brother, Lorenzo, who was born with down syndrome and autism. His heart is filled with so much joy, his energy feels contagious by just sitting next to him. Children living with autism and/or down syndrome feel everything we feel. They are completely conscious of conversations going on around them and can instantly pick up if you are talking about them close by. The problem is that their brain does not allow them to express their feelings, so if they feel angry they’ll throw something, or if they feel left out, they might use aggression. Music therapy opens channels of communication, in other words, it’s their way of expressing their feelings. I know this because I’ve seen it during all the sessions with Lorenzo. Helping Lorenzo improve his concentration and synchronization using music is my goal. Surprisingly though, even if I’m not successful I don’t feel like I’ve fail because this whole experience has impacted my life in the most explicit way possible. I haven’t thought about what grade I’m going to get on my project once since I began meeting with Lorenzo because I feel so connected with him and what I’m creating with him: a relationship where both of us gain so much, and formed with so much compassion, trust and constant improvements. It truly is inspiring watching his own music therapists, Mario Bressanutti, with him. I feel like I’ve already gained so much after just a few sessions, I can’t imagine how much I will learn by the end of this journey. I have been thinking about how to re-write my conclusion because I wouldn't want anybody to think of me as a person that has got it all figured out and that I think of myself as some kind of angel because I find happiness through helping others. But the fact is I'm not here to brag about how I found what makes me so happy in life, I'm here to simply share an amazing experience I've had, after spending time with a 17 year old down syndrome and autistic boy. It is hard for me to explain this because no words can really describe how this boy has taught me so much. Lorenzo and I have gained a certain connection I have never made with anyone else in my life. The most beautiful part of all of this is the fact that the point of my project was to help Lorenzo, yet I feel like nobody has ever helped me as much as he has ever before. He taught me about patience and how being different and challenged is not sad at all, it is actually what defines what it really means to succeed in life the hard way.
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How many times has someone complained about time going by too fast? “The party was fun but it went by so fast!”, “my vacations were great but it all seems like a blur now.” These are so typical and we’re all guilty of repeating them some time in our lives. Now a day I think people would pay to find the answer to living in the moment, if there was one, but that’s just it - there isn’t. We wait all week for the weekend and when it finally comes were suddenly already sitting in our first period class, Monday morning. So, how do we stop this continuous cycle before we blink our eyes and become grandparents? Everybody says the answer is learning to live in the moment, but how do you do that?
I maybe have been a little dramatic about being grandparents before we know it - but that’s really how I look at things. I am the QUEEN of not living in the moment and only thinking about the future. So as the queen of this topic, I definitely have enough experience to say this must STOP. I’m not referring to constantly thinking about the future, I’m talking about all these thoughts in general. This is our REALITY. Time goes by fast, yes we ALL know it, so let’s accept it. Two things that I think are key in life are ACCEPTING things for what they are and always having a POSITIVE attitude, no matter what the situation. Humans have a problem with not accepting things that they can’t control, and I’m not only talking about time - this goes for anything. I, for one, am extremely scared of airplanes. All these years I couldn’t figure out why I instantly think I’m going to die each time I step into an airplane. But after a lot of travelling, it’s clear to me. Due to being a control freak, I finally connected the dots. When your in an airplane, your safety is out of your control. You can’t just get off it when you want to, like a car. This terrifies me, but I have to learn to accept this. To accept this fear and to learn to enter the plane positive thoughts. So now I walk into an airplane, trusting the pilot, and accepting I have no control over anything that happens; and believe it or not, this truly reliefs me. Accepting something as it is makes all the struggle 10,000 times easier. Whether it’s a tragedy or an accomplishment, you must accept the situation. So, next time it’s Monday and you’re in your first period, don’t give into the voices in your head that are telling you the weekend is still 5 days away - accept them. Accept it’s Monday morning and try your best to have a positive attitude because that’s what enjoying life is all about. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
June 2016
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