This is a link to a document that I made that has some great quotes and a couple of verses.
https://sendnow.acrobat.com/?i=6srGdLIFk6Y7jMq7W4LBvA
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Saturday, November 5, 2011
"How Full Is Your Bucket?": A Reflection of My Strengths/Gifts from God
I write this post partly to recommend the book "How Full is Your Bucket?" but also, this post is a reflection of my strengths or gifts from God, because that is what I thought of after reading this book and taking the personality questionnaire.
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I read the book for my HBM 131 class. At the end of the book, you take a personality assessment that (based on many questions, taking about 20 min, give or take. lol) is supposed to determine your top 5 strengths. Then you can decide how accurate the results are. I was actually surprised at the high level of accuracy my results seem to have, when I compare the results to the qualities I notice about myself.
I wrote this paper three days after a breakup (wrote all of this in the two hours before it was due, of course. haha) I was grateful that the promt my professor gave us asked us to "do some soul searching." This was really helpful for me, because at this time, all I could think about was God: how much He'd helped me through the breakup, and how I know He's always here for me -- really, He is so close to me that He is in me: He influences my thoughts, desires, actions and words. Anyway, I was glad this prompt gave me the opportunity to reflect upon the strengths God has given me; it is clear to me that nothing I have, including nothing about me, comes from anywhere except the hands of God.
God helped me SO much to get through this trial and come out of it stronger than I'd ever been. I'd say that I'm shocked I felt so great so soon, but when I think about it, I'm not surprised. Because, as Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I believe that because I love God, He really "showed up" when I needed him. He showed up in countless ways, including showing me that He has provided me so MANY amazing friends who love me and were more than willing to help when they knew I wasn't doing well. If you helped me in any way, know that I am forever grateful for what you have done, and would do the same for you in a heartbeat. God has given me all of you, and it is hard to grasp an understanding of why I am so blessed, but I'll bet it is because God knows I love Him. When I ask for help, He is always there, sometimes I may have to look harder than at other times. but He really is always there and will never forsake me, or any one of you :)
So thanks for reading this -- and know that I am thankful and blessed to have each and every one of you in my life. so to all of you, my fellow believers in Christ, thank you for all that you do and in using your lives to impact others just as Christ did (and continues to do) for us.
So...below is my paper about "How Full Is Your Bucket?" that I turned in to my class. Its pretty long, I know. haha so...I hi-lighted some of the main points:
"The five strengths that the Strength Finder assessment determined that I have are as follows: I am a developer, my beliefs are important to me, I stay positive, strive to include others, and I am responsible. I find this information to be quite accurate. I actually was impressed by how accurately the descriptions of each of the characteristics apply to me. Knowing myself and this information about my strengths, I think that I would be most successful surrounded by people who have my same Strengths, as well as people who also really value the importance of working hard in order to achieve success. (I am a hard worker, and was a bit surprised that that did not show up in one of my characteristics. However, a strong work ethic and determination to work hard fall into responsibility, one of my five characteristics).
First, I am a developer. I really am amazed at how strongly this describes me. Sometimes I think it may sound naive, but I really do always see the potential in others. I believe that everyone was given the qualities and talents that they, as an individual, can use to succeed in their own unique way. No one is perfect at anything, we were made to make mistakes. But my “developer” view shows me that everyone has the potential to achieve greatness. No matter who they are, no matter how terrible the mistakes a person has made, they still have the potential to turn their life around and make it a success. Even people who the majority perceive as the lowest of the low were born with qualities that they can be using to succeed.
Next, the Strength Finder explained me as holding great importance to responsibility. This is very accurate. Some may call me a “goody-two shoes” and I cannot disagree with that. People do not perceive me as a typical WSU student. I do not party, and I rarely drink. (I have never drank more than 1/3 of a beer at one time, and I only did this once. All through my time at WSU, I have never been to a frat party and have only twice been hanging out with friends who were drinking.) It isn’t that I want to party but am holding myself back from it either. I just really have a mindset of responsibility and do not care to partake in actions that I perceive as risky. I do not feel like my way of life isn’t enough fun. I have plenty of fun and have plenty of great friends who care about me. When we hang out, we play tennis, watch movies, go hiking, horseback riding, as well as various other activities we all enjoy. A vital component of responsibility, I think, is honesty. Ever since I was old enough to understand why, I have known the importance of honesty. Without honesty, who could trust me? What respect could I have from family, friends, and co-workers? Not much. Dishonest behavior quickly causes those around you to lose their trust, respect and desire to be around you. My Strength Finder results are accurate by stating, “When people come to you for help—and they soon will—you must be selective. Your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should.” There are times in my life when I have helped others so much that it was not healthy for me because I had taken on more than I should have. My strong desire to help others is hard to push away. It is difficult to say no to someone who is requesting my help. I am described well by this statement, too: “If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. Apologies are not enough. Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution.” I strongly dislike making excuses, and try in every way to avoid situations that excuses may come up. If I end up making an excuse, I feel guilty. I tell the person that I am not trying to make an excuse, but rather an explanation for the way I messed up, and that I would appreciate it if they could try to see it as such. I also don’t like asking for help, because my responsible nature causes me to feel the need to complete my personal tasks on my own, as well as to be dependable for everything I say I will do for others; I even feel responsibility for things I have not directly committed to (things I expect of myself to do for others).
Next on my list of qualities from the Strength Finder questionnaire is belief. I was pleased to see that this made my list of five attributes. My faith is extremely important to me and I would never want to lose it. Many of the decisions I make on a daily basis are based upon my faith. As time passes, I see my faith grow, and especially after I have come out of a negative situation. My faith helps me to stay positive when things get tough, because no matter how hard life gets, (and yes, there have been some pretty difficult, low times in my life), I believe that my faith is strong enough to help me through. During a difficult situation -- it may be hard to see because I am in the moment -- but afterwards, I am usually able to see that God had a purpose for placing me in that situation. He had a reason for my struggle. I believe that there is always, (yes, really, always) good that can come out of any situation. No matter how hard the trial may have been, God had a reason for it, just as He has a reason for everything. Through prayer and patient requests, He will show us why we were in that situation. It may take time, sometimes more time than one hopes, but by relying on God, looking for His ever present love and guidance, I believe that we can always find what God wanted to show us. Each trial we go through really does make us a better person and is meant to strengthen our faith. God teaches us to love Him and to love one another, but also to not neglect to love ourselves. This last one has taken me time to implement into my life. But lately God has shown me how to love myself. He wants me to put Himself and others above me, yes, that’s true, but He never wants me to forget about loving myself, too. This may mean trusting Him and not being afraid to ask friends for help when needed, and it also means that I should not forget that all the confidence I have is given to me from Him and I must never let go of it, though I also must not be prideful. When making decisions, I must think first of Christ, then others, and lastly, myself. In this way, I can be the selfless, loving, caring and sincere woman of God that I believe I am called to be.
The Strength Finder assessment results say the following about my faith: “your Belief theme causes you to be family-oriented, altruistic, even spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics—both in yourself and others.” As well as, stating that “success is more than money and prestige”. This really applies to me. I like to think that I really am not into material things (at least I hope that this is true). I have never been really into shopping, though some people find that odd, as most girls love shopping. I make a budget and when I shop, I stick to it. I find no reason to buy something if it is too expensive or is not a necessity. Another example is that in thinking about the kind of ring I’d like when I get married, I am not interested in having a diamond ring. For two reasons: one, it just is not necessary. If I marry the right person, then our love should be strong enough to not need something so meaningless. If we really love each other, we will know it and Christ’s love will still be the most important. I don’t believe that Christ wants us to become caught up in worldly things such as diamond rings. The second reason is that to me, diamonds are not a symbol of love. (This being said, I do of course respect those who desire to have a diamond ring. It is a personal decision, but I personally would like something different. Probably a ring with a cross on it, as that would hold more meaning.) If someone buys an expensive diamond ring for the sole purpose of proving their love for another person, then they are not truly in love. They are not in the kind of relationship that God has called us to enter. (Again, I’m not saying that diamond rings are not okay or that people in love should not buy each other expensive things. This is a personal choice). If a person proposed to me with an expensive diamond ring, then I would know that they are not the one for me. Because they’d be showing me that they do not understand what I value. The Strength Finder results also say that my faith makes me easy to trust and people know where I stand. This is accurate as well.
My next attribute, as revealed by the Strength Finder exercise is positivity. This also describes me well. It states that, “You are generous with praise, quick to smile, and always on the lookout for the positive in the situation. Some call you lighthearted. Others just wish that their glass were as full as yours seems to be. But either way, people want to be around you.” Throughout my life, it really pleases me to see that people do seem to want to be around me. I find that when I am most myself, people around me are smiling, laughing, and seem really happy. I believe that my positivity comes from God (just as I believe all my other traits do). Thus, I can’t be proud of my positivity, but rather should want to share it with others because that is why God has given it to me. After all, what is positivity if it is not shared with those around you? If one is positive, he or she should not keep the positivity to oneself, just as one should not selfishly hide and try to keep any of their other God given gifts to oneself. The Strenth Finder results also say that I seem to find a way to lighten others’ spirits by using my energy and optimism. It is also accurate by saying that I keep hold of my sense of humor through life’s setbacks and that it is difficult for others to bring me down because my positivity is so strong. An example of my optimism is that even the night of my breakup, though I felt hurt by him, I was still able to find some things to laugh about -- I even made my friends (who were supporting me and helping me through my breakup) laugh. Laughter truly is the best medicine! It takes many negative interactions for me to be brought down. Sometimes if I’m having a bad day or going through a tough time, my positivity is harder to keep, but it is always there. I always at least attempt to treat all people kindly, no matter what they have done to me. The way I see it is like this: no matter what I'm going through, there is someone out there --no, not just someone, but many people, more than I could even count-- who are struggling even worse than I. So even in my own times of need, I at least attempt to reach out to others: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” Philippians 1:21.
Lastly, I am an includer. I see a lot of truth to this as well. When I meet someone new, I really try my best to withhold/suspend judgment. I like to think that God has made me a generally accepting, non-judgmental person. Thinking about it, I honestly would be friends with everyone if there was time for that. If anyone needs something, even if I hardly know them, I do my best to help out because I feel that it is my responsibility to help all those who are hurting. I love to reach out to others. To make even just one person's day better, makes my day SO much better. Throughout my life, I have various examples of being an includer. Leaving people out makes me hurt because I have empathy for them when I think about times I have been left out, made fun of, or talked about behind my back. Those actions are hurtful, and I am not saying that I include people as much as I should, nobody does, because no one is perfect. But I do try to include others as much as I can and I will go out of my way to do so. When I reach out to people, I love to see their response. Helping and including those who are really hurting, or those who had been hurt but are still healing and want to talk about it, is something I deeply, sincerely enjoy. I am not completely sure what occupation I have been called to in this life, but am currently an Organizational Communication major, planning on minoring in Hospitality Business Management and Psychology, too, if I can fit that in. A part of me feels that I may be called to counseling. I think this because some of my life experiences have shaped me into the kind of person who truly does sincerely care about others. I don’t worry very often, but one thing I do worry about is the possibility of saying or doing something that could hurt another person. God has made me sensitive to the feelings of others and given me a great deal of empathy and understanding. I plan to earn my Bachelor’s degree, then work in the Human Resources field, because I want a job that I would get to have a lot of interaction with all kinds of people. Then after probably a few years at that, I hope to have some money saved up to be able to go to grad school for psychology if I decide that is what I should do. Being that I am an includer, I believe that a counseling job could be a great place for me.
Overall, I really enjoyed the Strength Finder book and felt that it accurately displayed my top five strengths, as I see myself and as God sees myself. I see that (and especially after writing this), I was able to clearly reflect upon the five strengths and find them to truly be accurate. I definitely more than “a little soul-searching” as the prompt had asked. But I am glad that I took it deeper, as it made the experience truly worthwhile. I did not feel as if reading “How Full is Your Bucket?,” taking the assessment and writing this paper wasted any of my time. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found it to be highly useful. I already see myself implementing some of the suggestions the book makes into my life. I am “filling buckets” more frequently than I used to because I clearly see the impact it makes (not only for the person receiving into their bucket, but for myself). “Filling buckets” of others gives me such a great personal reward that it almost feels selfish. It seems to me that giving praise, compliments, and thanking others for what they have done for me might even give me a greater reward than it does for the person receiving from me. I found several quotes to be eye opening, but especially this one: “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” Though it is a bit different from what we are used to hearing (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”), it is a selfless variation of the famous quote. If we do unto others as we would want them to do for us, then we are not being sensitive to their individual, unique needs and emotions. All people are created equal, but it is important to recognize that all people were not created the same. How boring would our world be if we were all the same? If I could choose to take only one important thing away from reading this book, it would be this: always be sensitive to the needs of others and do not expect that they want to be treated the same way you do. They might, if you are very similar people, but chances are, if you really treat someone right, you would not be treating them in a way identical to that which you would like to be treated."
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I read the book for my HBM 131 class. At the end of the book, you take a personality assessment that (based on many questions, taking about 20 min, give or take. lol) is supposed to determine your top 5 strengths. Then you can decide how accurate the results are. I was actually surprised at the high level of accuracy my results seem to have, when I compare the results to the qualities I notice about myself.
I wrote this paper three days after a breakup (wrote all of this in the two hours before it was due, of course. haha) I was grateful that the promt my professor gave us asked us to "do some soul searching." This was really helpful for me, because at this time, all I could think about was God: how much He'd helped me through the breakup, and how I know He's always here for me -- really, He is so close to me that He is in me: He influences my thoughts, desires, actions and words. Anyway, I was glad this prompt gave me the opportunity to reflect upon the strengths God has given me; it is clear to me that nothing I have, including nothing about me, comes from anywhere except the hands of God.
God helped me SO much to get through this trial and come out of it stronger than I'd ever been. I'd say that I'm shocked I felt so great so soon, but when I think about it, I'm not surprised. Because, as Romans 8:28 tells us, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I believe that because I love God, He really "showed up" when I needed him. He showed up in countless ways, including showing me that He has provided me so MANY amazing friends who love me and were more than willing to help when they knew I wasn't doing well. If you helped me in any way, know that I am forever grateful for what you have done, and would do the same for you in a heartbeat. God has given me all of you, and it is hard to grasp an understanding of why I am so blessed, but I'll bet it is because God knows I love Him. When I ask for help, He is always there, sometimes I may have to look harder than at other times. but He really is always there and will never forsake me, or any one of you :)
So thanks for reading this -- and know that I am thankful and blessed to have each and every one of you in my life. so to all of you, my fellow believers in Christ, thank you for all that you do and in using your lives to impact others just as Christ did (and continues to do) for us.
So...below is my paper about "How Full Is Your Bucket?" that I turned in to my class. Its pretty long, I know. haha so...I hi-lighted some of the main points:
"The five strengths that the Strength Finder assessment determined that I have are as follows: I am a developer, my beliefs are important to me, I stay positive, strive to include others, and I am responsible. I find this information to be quite accurate. I actually was impressed by how accurately the descriptions of each of the characteristics apply to me. Knowing myself and this information about my strengths, I think that I would be most successful surrounded by people who have my same Strengths, as well as people who also really value the importance of working hard in order to achieve success. (I am a hard worker, and was a bit surprised that that did not show up in one of my characteristics. However, a strong work ethic and determination to work hard fall into responsibility, one of my five characteristics).
First, I am a developer. I really am amazed at how strongly this describes me. Sometimes I think it may sound naive, but I really do always see the potential in others. I believe that everyone was given the qualities and talents that they, as an individual, can use to succeed in their own unique way. No one is perfect at anything, we were made to make mistakes. But my “developer” view shows me that everyone has the potential to achieve greatness. No matter who they are, no matter how terrible the mistakes a person has made, they still have the potential to turn their life around and make it a success. Even people who the majority perceive as the lowest of the low were born with qualities that they can be using to succeed.
Next, the Strength Finder explained me as holding great importance to responsibility. This is very accurate. Some may call me a “goody-two shoes” and I cannot disagree with that. People do not perceive me as a typical WSU student. I do not party, and I rarely drink. (I have never drank more than 1/3 of a beer at one time, and I only did this once. All through my time at WSU, I have never been to a frat party and have only twice been hanging out with friends who were drinking.) It isn’t that I want to party but am holding myself back from it either. I just really have a mindset of responsibility and do not care to partake in actions that I perceive as risky. I do not feel like my way of life isn’t enough fun. I have plenty of fun and have plenty of great friends who care about me. When we hang out, we play tennis, watch movies, go hiking, horseback riding, as well as various other activities we all enjoy. A vital component of responsibility, I think, is honesty. Ever since I was old enough to understand why, I have known the importance of honesty. Without honesty, who could trust me? What respect could I have from family, friends, and co-workers? Not much. Dishonest behavior quickly causes those around you to lose their trust, respect and desire to be around you. My Strength Finder results are accurate by stating, “When people come to you for help—and they soon will—you must be selective. Your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should.” There are times in my life when I have helped others so much that it was not healthy for me because I had taken on more than I should have. My strong desire to help others is hard to push away. It is difficult to say no to someone who is requesting my help. I am described well by this statement, too: “If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. Apologies are not enough. Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution.” I strongly dislike making excuses, and try in every way to avoid situations that excuses may come up. If I end up making an excuse, I feel guilty. I tell the person that I am not trying to make an excuse, but rather an explanation for the way I messed up, and that I would appreciate it if they could try to see it as such. I also don’t like asking for help, because my responsible nature causes me to feel the need to complete my personal tasks on my own, as well as to be dependable for everything I say I will do for others; I even feel responsibility for things I have not directly committed to (things I expect of myself to do for others).
Next on my list of qualities from the Strength Finder questionnaire is belief. I was pleased to see that this made my list of five attributes. My faith is extremely important to me and I would never want to lose it. Many of the decisions I make on a daily basis are based upon my faith. As time passes, I see my faith grow, and especially after I have come out of a negative situation. My faith helps me to stay positive when things get tough, because no matter how hard life gets, (and yes, there have been some pretty difficult, low times in my life), I believe that my faith is strong enough to help me through. During a difficult situation -- it may be hard to see because I am in the moment -- but afterwards, I am usually able to see that God had a purpose for placing me in that situation. He had a reason for my struggle. I believe that there is always, (yes, really, always) good that can come out of any situation. No matter how hard the trial may have been, God had a reason for it, just as He has a reason for everything. Through prayer and patient requests, He will show us why we were in that situation. It may take time, sometimes more time than one hopes, but by relying on God, looking for His ever present love and guidance, I believe that we can always find what God wanted to show us. Each trial we go through really does make us a better person and is meant to strengthen our faith. God teaches us to love Him and to love one another, but also to not neglect to love ourselves. This last one has taken me time to implement into my life. But lately God has shown me how to love myself. He wants me to put Himself and others above me, yes, that’s true, but He never wants me to forget about loving myself, too. This may mean trusting Him and not being afraid to ask friends for help when needed, and it also means that I should not forget that all the confidence I have is given to me from Him and I must never let go of it, though I also must not be prideful. When making decisions, I must think first of Christ, then others, and lastly, myself. In this way, I can be the selfless, loving, caring and sincere woman of God that I believe I am called to be.
The Strength Finder assessment results say the following about my faith: “your Belief theme causes you to be family-oriented, altruistic, even spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics—both in yourself and others.” As well as, stating that “success is more than money and prestige”. This really applies to me. I like to think that I really am not into material things (at least I hope that this is true). I have never been really into shopping, though some people find that odd, as most girls love shopping. I make a budget and when I shop, I stick to it. I find no reason to buy something if it is too expensive or is not a necessity. Another example is that in thinking about the kind of ring I’d like when I get married, I am not interested in having a diamond ring. For two reasons: one, it just is not necessary. If I marry the right person, then our love should be strong enough to not need something so meaningless. If we really love each other, we will know it and Christ’s love will still be the most important. I don’t believe that Christ wants us to become caught up in worldly things such as diamond rings. The second reason is that to me, diamonds are not a symbol of love. (This being said, I do of course respect those who desire to have a diamond ring. It is a personal decision, but I personally would like something different. Probably a ring with a cross on it, as that would hold more meaning.) If someone buys an expensive diamond ring for the sole purpose of proving their love for another person, then they are not truly in love. They are not in the kind of relationship that God has called us to enter. (Again, I’m not saying that diamond rings are not okay or that people in love should not buy each other expensive things. This is a personal choice). If a person proposed to me with an expensive diamond ring, then I would know that they are not the one for me. Because they’d be showing me that they do not understand what I value. The Strength Finder results also say that my faith makes me easy to trust and people know where I stand. This is accurate as well.
My next attribute, as revealed by the Strength Finder exercise is positivity. This also describes me well. It states that, “You are generous with praise, quick to smile, and always on the lookout for the positive in the situation. Some call you lighthearted. Others just wish that their glass were as full as yours seems to be. But either way, people want to be around you.” Throughout my life, it really pleases me to see that people do seem to want to be around me. I find that when I am most myself, people around me are smiling, laughing, and seem really happy. I believe that my positivity comes from God (just as I believe all my other traits do). Thus, I can’t be proud of my positivity, but rather should want to share it with others because that is why God has given it to me. After all, what is positivity if it is not shared with those around you? If one is positive, he or she should not keep the positivity to oneself, just as one should not selfishly hide and try to keep any of their other God given gifts to oneself. The Strenth Finder results also say that I seem to find a way to lighten others’ spirits by using my energy and optimism. It is also accurate by saying that I keep hold of my sense of humor through life’s setbacks and that it is difficult for others to bring me down because my positivity is so strong. An example of my optimism is that even the night of my breakup, though I felt hurt by him, I was still able to find some things to laugh about -- I even made my friends (who were supporting me and helping me through my breakup) laugh. Laughter truly is the best medicine! It takes many negative interactions for me to be brought down. Sometimes if I’m having a bad day or going through a tough time, my positivity is harder to keep, but it is always there. I always at least attempt to treat all people kindly, no matter what they have done to me. The way I see it is like this: no matter what I'm going through, there is someone out there --no, not just someone, but many people, more than I could even count-- who are struggling even worse than I. So even in my own times of need, I at least attempt to reach out to others: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” Philippians 1:21.
Lastly, I am an includer. I see a lot of truth to this as well. When I meet someone new, I really try my best to withhold/suspend judgment. I like to think that God has made me a generally accepting, non-judgmental person. Thinking about it, I honestly would be friends with everyone if there was time for that. If anyone needs something, even if I hardly know them, I do my best to help out because I feel that it is my responsibility to help all those who are hurting. I love to reach out to others. To make even just one person's day better, makes my day SO much better. Throughout my life, I have various examples of being an includer. Leaving people out makes me hurt because I have empathy for them when I think about times I have been left out, made fun of, or talked about behind my back. Those actions are hurtful, and I am not saying that I include people as much as I should, nobody does, because no one is perfect. But I do try to include others as much as I can and I will go out of my way to do so. When I reach out to people, I love to see their response. Helping and including those who are really hurting, or those who had been hurt but are still healing and want to talk about it, is something I deeply, sincerely enjoy. I am not completely sure what occupation I have been called to in this life, but am currently an Organizational Communication major, planning on minoring in Hospitality Business Management and Psychology, too, if I can fit that in. A part of me feels that I may be called to counseling. I think this because some of my life experiences have shaped me into the kind of person who truly does sincerely care about others. I don’t worry very often, but one thing I do worry about is the possibility of saying or doing something that could hurt another person. God has made me sensitive to the feelings of others and given me a great deal of empathy and understanding. I plan to earn my Bachelor’s degree, then work in the Human Resources field, because I want a job that I would get to have a lot of interaction with all kinds of people. Then after probably a few years at that, I hope to have some money saved up to be able to go to grad school for psychology if I decide that is what I should do. Being that I am an includer, I believe that a counseling job could be a great place for me.
Overall, I really enjoyed the Strength Finder book and felt that it accurately displayed my top five strengths, as I see myself and as God sees myself. I see that (and especially after writing this), I was able to clearly reflect upon the five strengths and find them to truly be accurate. I definitely more than “a little soul-searching” as the prompt had asked. But I am glad that I took it deeper, as it made the experience truly worthwhile. I did not feel as if reading “How Full is Your Bucket?,” taking the assessment and writing this paper wasted any of my time. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and found it to be highly useful. I already see myself implementing some of the suggestions the book makes into my life. I am “filling buckets” more frequently than I used to because I clearly see the impact it makes (not only for the person receiving into their bucket, but for myself). “Filling buckets” of others gives me such a great personal reward that it almost feels selfish. It seems to me that giving praise, compliments, and thanking others for what they have done for me might even give me a greater reward than it does for the person receiving from me. I found several quotes to be eye opening, but especially this one: “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” Though it is a bit different from what we are used to hearing (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”), it is a selfless variation of the famous quote. If we do unto others as we would want them to do for us, then we are not being sensitive to their individual, unique needs and emotions. All people are created equal, but it is important to recognize that all people were not created the same. How boring would our world be if we were all the same? If I could choose to take only one important thing away from reading this book, it would be this: always be sensitive to the needs of others and do not expect that they want to be treated the same way you do. They might, if you are very similar people, but chances are, if you really treat someone right, you would not be treating them in a way identical to that which you would like to be treated."
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