Shawn Stark

Stress Management Chap 14 reflection, fall 2009

To reflect on positive psychology, I shall list strengths, some successes, current things fortunate and motivating.

My Strengths, things that go well for me:

     1)  Composing ethical and moral points on all ranges of topics.

     2) Solving immediate problems incrementally and with
     ingenuity.

     3) Accomplishing what is necessary when faced with adversity.

     4) Gaining support from others in my endeavors.

     5) Making sense of and combining multiple different interpretations in disagreements,
     thought groups, and theory for greater understanding that may lead to solution.

     6) Maintaining focus on my jobs, enduring overtime, learning new things,ensuring completion of work, limiting conflicts, maintaining contact with integral persons when adversity does arise, working out alternate plans to suffice other needs in my life, + much more.

Note: A smile and hard work goes a long way. Consider an employee that works hard every day, seems to accomplish more and is more versatile than others with the same pay rate. The required work can be completed in three four days when he is working and he will work 12 hour shifts if he has to, to complete his tasks. With the effort and commitment this individual gives to his job, the management is likely to allow him some flexibility to take care of personal situations.

I am glad that we are finishing up the semester, and I am not too reluctant to excepting a grade of “C “ in any of my classes. When I originally considered going back to college at Saint Cloud Technical it had dawned on me that I was going to have a difficult time considering, my legal troubles in Mn, bad associations with people, and family relationships that needed help, I also expected I would have trouble finding a job, and considered more car trouble as that is consistently going to happen, I just try to best prepare for it as I can. So overall I have done as well as I expected and I hope the second semester this year ‘09/10 will improve now that I have finally settled down here a little and become comfortable. I consider my successes every year and this year there are not as many, I generally have some outstanding bills or something that I have made progress on, some social achievements and so forth. Though I have left some bills unpaid I have finally got my driving privileges back in Mn, and am still working on the more recent charges to get it back again; I have made close friends with a young family where I stayed for a while and now visit, share and go out with. Most of my future plans in life include my new friends in one way or another. My goal is to eventually be an upstanding citizen somewhere.

Shawn Stark
Stress Management Chap 13 reflection, fall 2009

To me resilience and repression is related to a quasi-submissive state where an individual is pushed to, or for some reason believe, they must redefine their resources and/or priorities to persist or succeed in face of internal and external environmental factors. Though repression could be considered a technique used when applying resilience, it plays such an important role that it should be analyzed along side it. These actions taken in resilience can be strengthened by repressed distress causing a person to focus harder on their new priorities to keep the former from surfacing while the motivation and effort directed in resilience is simultaneously distracting one from that which they have or are trying to repress (?active-repression?).

Whether we guise our problems or embrace them in an effort to take new direction we are trying to put those bad feelings and beliefs that may limit our capabilities behind us and take action in a new direction in our lives to overcome or move forward from where we stood before. However, the feelings and emotions that correspond to the precipitation of the resilience still remain and can be brought forth later, hopefully our resilience has shed new light on these historic feelings and emotions so they don’t hurt us anymore. I hope to provide some interpretable rational for what I have just expressed as true in the phrases below.

“Skater Ellie Babble makes a big come back during her final show In spite of low scores reflecting a couple of falls in here earlier programs. Ellie’s persistence to focus and not give up, has allowed her to make a comeback that has shocked us all. We are looking forward to see her performance at the national competition. Great job Ellie”.

In this instance it seems Ellie may have tried harder in her later program to make up for the mistakes made in her earlier programs in the competition. She was a resilient underdog in the final program and managed to succeed, awesome she knew where she stood and just what she needed to do to make it and she did .

“Another skater on Ellie’s team ,Katie also skated really well, she didn’t fall or have any problems placing during the competition at all. She had been practicing and spending day after day at the rink, she has felt that this is the only thing she wants to do and is willing to give as much effort toward improving her skating techniques as she can. She never used to spend as much time practicing and has always done well, but it seems that she has perfected a whole new set of skills the judges have never seen in any of her prior competitions. Prior to this seasons practice her boyfriend left the country to study abroad. Though she says, “I am practicing so hard because I just want to do my best.” others believe it may be her way of dealing with the absence of her boy friend. There are so many worries she may have whether there is real warrant for them or not she believes it is most important for her to focus on her future career skating.”

It seems to me Ellie’s fellow Katie may be dealing with her boyfriends absence by replacing the worries and loneliness that has occurred with more practice and focus on her game. I don’t believe this to necessarily be unhealthy, her boyfriend is probably focusing very hard on his studies also. It is important though that she is directing the resilience toward something she wants to do and is important to her. Say her and the boyfriend planned on getting back together after the school year and she coped with the loneliness by going out with other guys, how might this effect the future of her relationship or the game. This seems to be a case where an element of distraction (Practice) is benefiting from her recent loss.

The second example I find analogous to dealing with the death of someone close to you, though the elements of dealing may vary and be numerous there seems to me some effort to fill the different voids and possibly substitute them with hard work and new rays of relation. Katie obviously can’t substitute the absence of her boyfriend entirely with practice, but she sure could try.

Though both of the girls in the examples provided demonstrated resilience, one in over coming worry and disturbances caused by the now distant relationship with her boyfriend by refocusing her attention on something constructive in her life rather than redundantly reviewing how horrible her new situation is and the other by not letting her fall early in the competition make her believe she couldn’t make it instead relied on her ability to figure out exactly what she had to do to get a score in her final program that would place her in the runnings for the national competition.

Learning from our mistakes, keeping a strong support group, maintaining preparation, reviewing and practicing how we can succeed faced with adversity, letting go of our obsessions and limiting beliefs, building upon our strengths we may need to rely on, learning to think critically about problems so as to be able to solve them with limited resources, knowing how to prioritize, knowing what we really want; our personal goals and priorities, and understanding our weaknesses will help us be more resilient in the future and prepared for potential problems that might arise.

Tags: Body and Mind, Health, Natural, Preperation, Psychology, Reflection, Repression, Resilience, Self fullfilling prophecy, Strength, Stress Management, Submission

Shawn Stark

Stress Management

Chap 12 reflection

When I think of conflict I imagine those, aggravating arguments and disagreements with family, friends, coworkers, supervisors and the other people whom we make fellowships with. It hurts worst to be in conflict with those closest to you. Without conflict, problems wouldn’t be resolved just overlooked. The conflicts that arise in my relationships can draw so much attention that it leaves me little left to focus on the things that need to be done. I find sometimes the outcomes of conflict can be positive and negative. It is ultimately the way we attend to our differences and how they stress our relationships that decides how much of a negative or positive impact comes out of the situation.

Ever so often I upset or am upset by someone near me, we butt heads, talk or fuss over the issue with each other then most likely review it in our heads and actually allow ourselves to believe that we can do something to avoid conflicts of a similar nature again. It is important we allow ourselves to give our understanding and compassion in our relationships, understanding each others problems and understanding the problems we have with each other though sometimes it can be difficult will help retain good working relationships.

A few things I should avoid during conflicts,

• Assigning blame, especially vocalizing it in a way that may cause retaliation and a finger pointing competition.

• Make excuses or pretend that it isn’t significant.

• Make points of vengeance or make actions out of spite,this only antago nizes more conflict

To enhance my ability to understand I may practice techniques like active listening and listening for deeper meanings. Sometimes people just want to be heard and may say things though they really mean something else. I may also reflect upon myself and the role I played in the conflict to take responsibility for my participation in the conflict and what lead up to it.

Conflicts are healthy, they keep us going and maintain working healthy relationships with our friends family and co-workers without these relationships we may loose a sense of self worth and that personal backup we need when taking on the big feats in life.

Tags: Body and Mind, Health, Natural, Psychology, Reflection, Self fullfilling prophecy, Stress Management

Shawn Stark
11/13/2009

Stress Management
Chapter #10, reflection paper

Whether moving your career up a notch by going back to college, going directly to college out of high school, or working a demanding position. You will always have to manage yourself with peers, coworkers, and authority figures. You will also have to find a way to balance and make time for all of the other things in your life like family, hobbies, or balancing loads between a job and school and if you are really trying hard maybe even two jobs. These demands on life are all quite different yet they are all working together hopefully without problems.
In my life I cant just consider the demands of my work, classes, family or friends all by themselves to improve my habits and overall well being. They all must work together. So I consider a plan for improvement where each of my main devotions in life all get there own list of demands. These devotions could also be considered my different roles (student, friend, brother, roommate, taxi,). I use “devotions” or “commitments” to describe these roles with more specificity and separate the demands in my life into categories. I should then be able to see what demands might or could interfere with others. It might help if I placed amount of time spent on these different demands.

Below are my devotions and their demands

Worrying about and spending time with and for friends takes time away that I have devoted for homework and study. I also spend a lot of time researching projects outside of the class curriculum that do not show immediate benefits. I am in a position where I should have already done something with my life and nothing else is showing so that put a Big davit in my motivation. I have commitments to family that I will generally drop everything for, if something comes up. Family is not always close. Not having the major people you care about near by everyday makes things much harder.

And just to finish this up it is important for me to reference what this chapter was about.

As a college student or an employee I very much believe I have to consider the stress in my personal life along with the stress in the workplace in order to do well in either. Work and personal life should compliment each other, not suggesting to mix business and pleasure, just make sure home and work get along. This chapter covered a lot of information about ways to reduce stress both in the occupation and in college but I feel the two main ones are maintaining motivation and staying organized.

Tags: Body and Mind, Health, Natural, Psychology, Reflection, Self fullfilling prophecy, Stress Management

Shawn Stark

Stress Management

Chap 9 reflection Physical endurance, exercise, body and mind

There was a time when I didn’t have a car and I would walk or jog four miles to and from work everyday. We had an hour lunch break, so sometimes I would jog home during lunch and drive my girlfriends car back to work. It became kind of a personal test for myself, after doing it for a while I was making the run in under 30min. I was proud of myself and certain most people couldn’t catch me. The cool wind and the scenery on my route home that you generally would miss when you were driving was seen with a greater clarity of perception. I would experience my journey home everyday noticing not only the scenery but the people that were out barbecuing, riding bike and driving by. Being in an altered state of mind (runners high) during this experience. My memories of this experience are very focused on much of what it felt like and the things that were around me. Of course I probably thought about a number of things being silently alone with myself but the rhythm of my stamping feet kept everything I thought about whether stressful or not from changing the rhythms of my body. When I would finally reach my destination my heart rate would slowly return to normal and it seemed to me that; little things that aggravate me would not increase my heart beat and physical response as they may have if I hadn’t been running everyday. I believe some of this could be accredited to the fact my body was just to wore out to do the Olympics over a thought or stressful situation.

Since then my exercise routines have changed a number of times, I get a lot more exercise in the jobs I work and my daily routines than I do from organized physical routines. When I have been lacking the physical exercise I am used to I can tell; this has become apparent to me during times while I have been in school and not working on anything except for desk work slaving over my computer for a period of time. I notice this when I feel week and sluggish, it isn’t like my strength went away its just that my muscles start becoming relaxed. It only takes 3 to 4 days of routine workout though to get myself back into condition as the strength is already there and just needs to be re-toned. I perk right up to my maximum ability from where I had left off last time I was routinely working out. I would guess that I begin to feel the effects of not doing enduring and strengthening tasks after about 2 weeks, then I say to myself “wow, I didn’t even realize I wasn’t working as hard recently” I then proceed to do a series of push ups, sit ups, dancing and stretches for a while, and generally find myself doing these things anyway as I have an excitable personality.

I have never practiced, tai chi, or yoga specifically, but I have put together my own dance routines that are very similar to the exercises shown in the chapter, though you would think dancing is a constant movement, I still tend to do exercises where I hold a position for a period of time or make certain movements slowly, I enjoy using my own momentum to put more resistance on different moves.

The clarity of thought, self control, physical cleansing, greater personal satisfaction, greater self perception, increased sensitivity and heightened physical stimulation that comes with routine exercise allows me to attend to situations with a more collected attitude as if I had brought myself into a controlled submissive state that is recursive in memory and retained in physical well being and feeling (the after burn). The effects of stimulants in association with any work out I have done has destroyed the extra benefits of exercise that help with managing stress and state of mind, they always seem to make things worse.

My exercise goals are:

Increase my daily activities, and do a combination of stretches and strengthening exercises every night.

Tags: Body and Mind, exercise, Health, Natural, Physical endurance, Psychology, Reflection, Self fullfilling prophecy, Stress Management

Shawn Stark
10/30/2009

Stress Management
Chapter #8, reflection paper

The different types of meditation recollection, guided imagery, and hypnosis to alleviate stress are used to bring an individual into a state of feeling well and not binded by rituals, routines, ideals and deadlines.

The different methods outlined all have specificity and can be used to help in different ways. For instance: a cheerleader and her team might sit down together and rehearse show day in their minds eye. They could visualize the audience, the flashing lights and all other things that would be on the field the day of the show that they couldn’t experience during practice.

This is called End State Imagery or what I would like to label as a form of self-projection.

Other forms include ways to:

1) Distract yourself from things that are eating you at any given time;
2) Keeping yourself in a positive mood;
3) Controlling the actions that come in response to aggravations that arise;
4) Fighting illness and influencing the auto-immune system;
5) Understanding issues from different perspectives, and overcoming anxieties or changing the state of mind evolved from habits and routines, putting ones self in the mind frame of another personality type.

All of these techniques could be used in combination or by themselves all depending upon the person and the purpose the technique will be used for.

One of the techniques I am quite fond of myself is Metaphoric Imagery.

When something is bothersome or hard to contend with in its given form no matter how it is perceived, imagine it as something different that you can grasp at the moment and allow the mind process to work with the new object to create an understanding. This could be doing something like taking something a friend has said that irritates you, or you didn’t quite understand and pretend it was a text message on your phone. Or vice versa.

Tags: Body and Mind, Health, Natural, Psychology, Reflection, Self fullfilling prophecy, Stress Management

Shawn Stark
10/29/2009

Stress Management
Chapter #7, reflection paper

For this reflection I have chosen to use a technique of Problem Definition and Formulation from the chapter to analyze a problem in my life right now.

One sentence problem description:

Finding time to search for and successfully find a job given all the reason why my resume or application is likely to be rejected.

Details and specifics:

Stability in residency between homes of different family members and places of my own gives the impression that I am unable to commit to a job longer than six months at a time because it is likely I will move.

Majority of employers check your criminal history and ensure the candidate is capable of completing their commute to and from work and aren’t convicted felons or have a history of theft. The Minnesota Courts system provides detailed report of my criminal history including traffic and misdemeanor charges. They have had my drivers license suspended for a number of years due to a fine owed to one county. Recently corrected and re-instated but not before receiving another driving without a valid Mn drivers license. I still retain a valid Wisconsin DL, and retain residency out there while I am in school this year (2009). Minnesota will not suspend my privileges for this recent violation so long as I pay the fine of 250 dollars. It is not likely I will have the funds to pay this debt before action is taken.

Finding a position in the general manufacturing and labor bracket that I have routinely worked since I was twenty years old is determinant upon availability for full time work, which I can’t commit to right now as I am in school. I have worked full time while in school full time before, It is very hard and I have been quite fortunate that companies have taken the risk of retaining an employee with multiple time consuming priorities. It is much easier to work out if you already have a position when you start class.

A number of issues recently have required my attention and have taken a lot of time. I am just catching up in my classes and finally getting into some sort of routine. I still do not have the time to make a full focused job search, but it is on my list of things to do.

My specific goal:

#1 pay the fine that can put me in a situation where I have to risk infractions with the law.

#2 make a full effort job search for a part time job, ensuring I can get an interview and present myself. A high paying position or position in my industry is not necessary at the present time, just finding a position that will pay $175 to $200 a week is all that is necessary.

#3 make connections with those around me and continue doing volunteer work to acquire forms of reference.

#4 Call and ensure the information provided by previous employers will help me, make sure they are worth while to put on my resume. It is important that this is done as I have put other things as priority over work as they could at that time been more detrimental in life and rendered me unable to work more so than the time taken to rectify the problems at hand.

#5 Make it a priority that the job I do take can have my full focus and effort. It is hard as the personal and circumstantial issues in life co-exists with ones work abilities.

I am just coming out of the hole and it is time that this loop that keeps bringing me down ceases.

What exactly am I going to do:

#1 Fill out as many applications as I can for a job (November 3^rd 2009)

#2 Keep in contact with the local organizations that I have been volunteering for.(Oct. 30th)

#3 Ask family and/or work for funds to pay my fine before the envelope to pay closes (Oct. 31st)

#4 Get a hold of the county where the fine is at and go through the routine of appealing the case
to lower the fine and or work out a payment plan that might defer the suspension of the

drivers license. (Nov 5^th) requires over an hour & ½ of driving.

#5 Keep working hard in my classes, make every effort to get ahead to give me that extra time
to search for work.

There are no excuses that will keep me from completing these tasks unless something disastrous beyond my control happens.

I managed to complete some of these, and did pay the fine however, I let much get in the way of finding part time work, I did make an effort but it was following through and allowing myself to be wrapped up in contemplation that ultimately used my up the hours and much of my effort as well as I had also been having health troubles and was nursing myself back from sleep troubles, and seemed to feel very exhausted from contemplation alone.

Tags: Body and Mind, Health, Natural, Psychology, Reflection, Self fullfilling prophecy, Stress Management

Shawn Stark
Stress Management
10/09/2009 : Chapter 6

State of mind, self perception and the “tools” we use to handle stressful situations play a large role in how stressful a situation can become and how well we are able to manage it. The way we perceive a particular situation can cause more stress, and subsequent overwhelming incapacity disabling one from taking rational action to deal with the disturbance at hand. The cause of this fore stated overwhelming incapacity is a persons take and outlook on the situation which in reality may not be a very good situation and hard to take for anyone. This take and outlook could very well include new disturbances that the individual has remitted to memory, or could be conjured as an outcome from the originating disturbance. The persons emotional state and subsequent states are also very much involved in this “take on things”, these states change how we are able to perceive and are variable day to day. Emotional states can be attributed to a number of different factors, not limited to self perception and life issues that come our way. Chemistry, lighting, aroma, sounds, people and other comforts one finds are also playing a part. Know that what comforts one person might cause irritation to another. The antagonism of stress within the mind is not just how we perceive these different things but how we embrace them. The outlooks and takes we have on events in our lives has a lot to do with our personal values, the way we were raised, the accustomed routines and the commonalities we take for granted, something new and different isn’t always easy for some individuals, while others embrace change and/or alternate life styles.

I believe these different takes on situations are part of our identity and unique to the individual partaking in a process to explain, endure, accomplish, understand, rationalize, and interact; amongst any other types of processes the human mind can conger. The process itself however is not to blame for stress, It is the weight we give to the process and the “tool set” we have at our disposal to effectively operate. People are different and they all handle situations in different ways. Whether these differences are subtle or extreme the approach taken to lower stress by changing ones mood and self perception should be applied specifically to the person. There is no single concrete way to fix stress problems in everyones life. It is ultimately self motivation and understanding applied by the person, tailored for themselves that is effective. Talking with others really helps one understand their own problems. (Looking for a quote to place here).

!Now, I know, I know! you must be asking how all this applies to me, given the format of my previous reflections. Well here it is, I have found an example and it is a short one this time. I find at times I tend to trample on in my outpouring of effort on one problem and retain only one outlook or “take” on things despite my surroundings / environment or the introduction of an alternate “take” on things as I am so preoccupied with one task where any disturbance that does not apply except for calls of nature like the bathroom, food or general needs is ignored. The alternate take has to wait until I have exhausted myself on the first one be it right or wrong. This is an example of limiting my overall disposition. On the other hand I will be at the top of my game seeing things from every angle usually after a mind shattering idea that picked up bits and pieces of a concept I had been working on for days. For me it always seems like a puzzle where the pieces find there spot easier as each piece placed brings you closer to finishing the puzzle thus a motive to continue working or trying at something. When the puzzle gets closer to completion I can open up to other puzzles and I have a greater disposition on everything. This puzzle idea can be used to explain anything that is preoccupying me. The methods of self talk and re-enforcement in my mind are simple ways to help a person adjust or envision something that satisfies the natural need to finish the puzzle or find comfort and rational to leave it just the way it is, or maybe trade it for a whole different one entirely, But as I have suggested before we aren’t always afforded the luxuries to deal with sources of stress in the ways we would prefer and some problems demand a solution in a specific form, the best we can do is rationalize it, find the good within and make it part of a positive self perception.

Tags: Body and Mind, Health, Natural, Psychology, Reflection, Self fullfilling prophecy, Stress Management

Shawn Stark
10/19/2009

Stress Management
Chapter #6, reflection paper NUMBER 1

This chapter helps me realize how ways I look at situations are conducive of stress. (my frame) I quite often will say things like “this sucks”, “I hate this”, “I will never make it”, “Its just not worth it”, “f* it”. These are all phrases I have been brought up to avoid. When I used these phrases as a kid, I was generally asked why I can’t think of a better way to express myself. In the here and now I don’t have those parental nuances to remind me of how “lousy” some of my outlooks are. So I must find ways to correct myself and keep my attitude on the up & up. Along with these ways of perceiving different situations is the feeling that I have to or must do something, which also reminds me of another thing I heard often as a kid: “The only thing you have to do is eat, shit, and die”. This is contradictory to statements by my parents that you have to finish everything on your plate, which isn’t all that contradictory if you really think about it. I guess I have been brought up in this world with at least one parent with a “don’t worry about it attitude”. I don’t really want to go into a big story about my father but his funny sayings and philosophies will stay with me for the rest of my life, especially in reference to life management, He may not have particularly applied these little things to life management, but I am sure he would say there was some science to it.

Some of the techniques from this chapter I may adopt to help avoid these ways of thought are:

• The Miracle Question (Where do you see yourself in five years?)
• Rubber Band Method (Thought stopping)
• Reframing (Casting the situation on a different perspective)

I am not so likely to use a thought journal unless I find myself in a situation where I have the extra time to do so. I will however continue to express myself in writing and apply reinforcing framing techniques to that method of expression and hopefully it will bleed into the rest of my life. It’s good to have a few philosophies to fall back on in bad situations that are hard to deal with.

Tags: Body and Mind, Health, Natural, Psychology, Reflection, Self fullfilling prophecy, Stress Management

Shawn Stark
10/01/2009

Stress Management
Chapter #5, reflection paper

Individual and Cultural Differences leaves me asking a number of questions about myself and trying to explain who I am, how my personality is conductive or resistant of stress, how life expectations are attributed to my past experiences and the way I was raised. All of this plays a part in my method of appraisal and underlies what personally causes stress in my life and defines my personality. Much of the time I have a Type A personality. I want to use this opportunity of reflection to talk about something I believe made me different growing up.

To help explain a little bit about myself, I would like to start off with a piece of history in my life. Growing up I was the under dog. Being petite and physically behind the rest of my peers I was ridiculed in elementary school to a degree, kids can be mean. My mother was a strong figure in my life and pushed me to stiffen that upper lip and be competitively strong despite being smaller than other kids my age. When other peers in my class began adolescent puberty, they also noticed that I wasn’t. At this point in my life my peers instead of ridiculing me were actually supportive but still demanding and aggressive in play. I believe friends kinda looked after and strengthened me like they would a little brother. I would venture to say I was short and cute and it seemed to attract the young girls at the time, handsomeness and physical prowess didn’t seem as important. I may not have realized but my male friends were protective and looked out for me. When the instance would come up a guy in my age group that hadn’t quite grown out of elementary schools of thought gave me hassle, my friends/peers seemed to be protective of me, this could very well be true amongst different groups of young kids.

Youthful appearance is less of an embarrassment to me now but more so something I wish I still had. Just to note the first hairs on my face did not appear until I was 21 years of age. I was shy, cute, petite and did not realize that the the attention I received and the wow looks on peoples faces when I told them how old I was made such an impact in my life. I recall friends out of experimentation and wonder that used to tell people I was their little brother, I didn’t think this cool, more like a cruel joke if you would have asked me at the time. At times unbelieving adults thought I was a young run away and would not believe me no matter what. At the age of 18 I was 4′11” tall about a 105 pounds. I since have noticed the attention and the low chatter around me, amongst all different ages of observers amazed at my age, who usually would say I was 4 to 5 years younger than I was, slowly diminished and became something of the past. All of this makes me feel old now and more self conscious than I ever was, I really take more pride when cashiers and such fancy me by telling me that I look young now. I have become stronger less shy and the number of times people mistake me as younger or approached me about my age has greatly diminished. I seem to walk on a level playing field. Though I am still smaller in comparison, I at least kinda look my age.

Do these stated experiences leave me with a more feminine perception of the world? To me my late teenage years and early twenties held that “fame and glory attention”. Getting a hand: I would be having troubling lifting something or wrenching on my car and someone stronger would often say get out my way and let me do that, after enough frustration I was generally obliged, and I ask myself now is that something I miss or want today. Yes I say, the social interaction would make everyday a new day for me, I recall the mistaken age classics as great conversation pieces. This is a long lost cause of stress that actually kept me socially up beat and active and bought me an extra edge in my relations . There are still old friends out there whom recognize me as shorty and wouldn’t know who you were talking about otherwise, but all that is really left of shorty are the stories, everyone has gone there own way. I am now Shawn Stark, and that seems to be my cultural and individual identity along with being Rusty’s son and other forms of family identification.

I am a Type A personality much of the time the other time I am actually the complete opposite. In my household growing up and to this day male family members and female family members play both roles, and it is difficult, interacting in a role oriented fashion for me. I don’t mind a strong female, if she is self supportive and independent that is a plus.

I do repress my emotions and model a slightly repressive personality at time but feel much more alive being open, being that I can articulate my emotions at the time because sometimes I just feel incapacitated.

Coping strategies:

My family strategies for coping have not always been the best and could use some improvement.

I model idealism, am predisposed, competitive and seem to believe others should be working just as hard as I. Now I know all of this sound bad but I do make exception and find I also adapt to my surroundings and the customs of those near me. Now if in the situation of culture shock in a different country or something I may get a little home sick.

Acculturation Stress
I find the most obvious cause of this is language barriers in the work place, phone line customer service plus political and religious differences.

These reflections are much for my own self analysis and understanding, and are truly my interpretation of the material, I enjoy feedback and plan to post a lot of work online including this. I have works from other classes and personal research organized in paper and file formats in binders and on my local machine that, will eventually find there way to my website. shawnstark.com

Tags: Body and Mind, Health, Natural, Psychology, Reflection, Self fullfilling prophecy, Stress Management