When it comes to understanding yourself and your personality on a deeper level than normally, you must take personal stories into perspective that have shaped your life while growing up. According to McAdams, “defining oneself through a personal story is an act of psychological and social responsibility” (Engler 2009). Psychological and social responsibility relate to how you act onto actions around you and how you tie society into your viewpoint of the world. In other words, explaining yourself through a story can show several things such as how your emotions played an affect, the type of response you displayed to something that happened, and as well as the lessons you learned through a personal but also social aspect. In addition, McAdams claimed, “The stories reveal both strengths and weaknesses in American’s understanding of themselves and their behavior in the world” (Engler 2009). Not only does sharing a personal story teach others of your type of personality but it also has the ability for you to learn things you never knew about yourself. One serious and self-reflective story I tend to convey to people when I become acquainted with them is related to how Hurricane Katrina affected my family and I. About eight years ago, Hurricane Katrina made landfall and devastated many parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. Prior to the disaster, I was born and raised in New Orleans; my home there was extremely important to me. To this day, it still seems so unrealistic; I lost everything I cared about. Although this was such a horrific event, it has taught me many life lessons, how to be hopeful, and how to overcome tragedies. One of the many life lessons I learned about deals with understanding that materialistic items should not be things you are attached to.
…show more content…
For example, one item I lost in the catastrophe was my trampoline. According to my memories, I would spend numerous hours playing games on the trampoline with my childhood friends: Ryan, Kenny, and Zack. When I had arrived back to my home after the hurricane had passed, the first thing I noticed was that my trampoline was gone. Even though I was gloomy for a period of time, I later realized I do not need to depend on materialistic things to be happy. After all, having an excellent family relationship brings me more happiness than any materialistic object ever could. Aside from learning life lessons, experiencing Hurricane Katrina has taught me how to stay hopeful and positive, which is the theme of this story. Due to where I had lived in New Orleans, I was not able to go view the damage of my home right away because of the horrible flooding. …show more content…
I have learned when overcoming a tragedy it is important to be able to accept what has happened and being able to cope with it. Remaining optimistic and living each day as its own is also a great way to benefit overcoming the problem. In addition, thinking of the positives instead of the negatives can make a huge difference in the way one handles overcoming a tragedy. Personally, I think the situation not only shaped me into the person I am today but also allowed me to understand what it is like being knocked down and brought back up. A tragedy like Hurricane Katrina can shape a person a lot of different ways. Although the event brought adversity, I can definitely say my personality today has changed due to this personal
For example, one item I lost in the catastrophe was my trampoline. According to my memories, I would spend numerous hours playing games on the trampoline with my childhood friends: Ryan, Kenny, and Zack. When I had arrived back to my home after the hurricane had passed, the first thing I noticed was that my trampoline was gone. Even though I was gloomy for a period of time, I later realized I do not need to depend on materialistic things to be happy. After all, having an excellent family relationship brings me more happiness than any materialistic object ever could. Aside from learning life lessons, experiencing Hurricane Katrina has taught me how to stay hopeful and positive, which is the theme of this story. Due to where I had lived in New Orleans, I was not able to go view the damage of my home right away because of the horrible flooding. …show more content…
I have learned when overcoming a tragedy it is important to be able to accept what has happened and being able to cope with it. Remaining optimistic and living each day as its own is also a great way to benefit overcoming the problem. In addition, thinking of the positives instead of the negatives can make a huge difference in the way one handles overcoming a tragedy. Personally, I think the situation not only shaped me into the person I am today but also allowed me to understand what it is like being knocked down and brought back up. A tragedy like Hurricane Katrina can shape a person a lot of different ways. Although the event brought adversity, I can definitely say my personality today has changed due to this personal