Keeping Up with AMORE

Picture of a corgi because corgis make me happy. Source: PxHere I tried this challenge in the second half of the semester and it made my life a lot more positive because I had the chance to think about one or more things that made me happy everyday of the week. I really enjoyed completing this challenge and wish to complete it it when the new year starts. I think I will keep a real happiness jar and write out whatever makes me happy. I really hope I can keep up with it throughout 2020.

WAKE UP: make your dreams come true. I am a big dreamer and I know it takes a long time to achieve your dreams and goals, but I have the tendency of giving up when life gets hard. I should stop dreaming and do something about it to make it come true. Stay focused and pay attention. I have a hard time paying attention, especially in class. I get distracted super easily and not really sure how to stay focused. My attention span is really short but I am trying to figure out what to do to expand my attention span.

Cat and cock. Source: Flickr . The Cat and the Cock the bodhisatta was born as a cock and lived in the forest with a retinue of many hundred cocks a she-cat lived near by and deceived all of the cocks by a device and ate them; however, she could not deceive the bodhisatta she created a plan to deceive him since bodhisatta was not easily deceived like the other cocks she started talking to the cock and saying she will be his wife the bodhisatta compared them two and how they should not be husband and wife since she has 4 legs and he only 2 she would not give up so she spoke again the bodhisatta did not give him; therefore he drove her away and she was never seen again Bibliography:  https://archive.org/stream/jatakatales00fran#page/258/mode/2up

Monkey in nest. Source: Flickr Unasked-For Advice While Brahmadatta reigned in Benares, the Bodhisatta came to life as a young singila bird When he grew into a big bird, he settled in the Himalaya country and built him a nest that was proof against the rain During the rainy season, a monkey came by to sit near Bodhisatta because he was cold The bodhisatta and the monkey had a conversation and did not come to a good end The monkey smashed his shelter and ended things Bibliography:  https://archive.org/stream/jatakatales00fran#page/228/mode/2up

Pomodoro. Source: Flickr . Well, here we are again with the pomodoro technique. I honestly could not keep up with this technique because I like studying until I feel like I need a break. I don't like how its 25 minutes of studying then 5 minutes for break. I think the studying time is too short. I may try extending it to 50 minutes of studying then 10 minutes for break. Maybe that will be better for me in my opinion. But this is just a little update on where I went with this technique this school semester.

I'm learning as I go. I learn new things constantly. I believe these two pictures go hand in hand, which is why I chose them. I am constantly learning new things everyday. I don't think there's a day in life where we don't learn as least one thing. It can be about anything whether it is in school or you're learning something about someone. There's endless possibilities of learning new things.

Parrots. Source: Unsplash . The Tell-Tale Parrot The Bodhisatta came into the world as a young parrot named Radha and his youngest brother named Potthapada When they were young, they were caught by a fowler and handed over to the brahmin in Benares The brahmin cared for them like they were his children The brahmin had a wicked wife and no one watched her The brahmin had to go away on a business trip and told his parrots to keep watch of their mother in season and out of season and to observe whether or not any many visits her As soon as the husband left, the woman began to do wrong Day and night, the visitors came and went -- there was no end to them Potthapada observed her wrongdoings and told Radha "Our master gave this woman into our charge, and here she is doing wickedness. I will speak to her" Radna told him not to but he did not listen and said to his mother "Mother, why do you commit sin?" The mother has been waiting to kill him and this was ...

Chameleon. Source: Flickr . The Treacherous Chameleon When Bradmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born a lizard When he grew up he lived in river bank with a handful of other lizards The Bodhisatta had a son, a young lizard, who was great friends with a chameleon Their relationship was reported to the lizard king and the king said "that such friendship was misplaced, for chameleons were low creatures, and that if the intimacy was persisted in, calamity would befall the whole of the tribe of lizards The young lizard continued his intimacy with the chameleon As time went on, the young lizard grew of great size but the chameleon did not One day in the summer, the ants came out after a thunder-storm and the lizards darted hither and thither catching them and eating them lizard trapper came into the forest with spade and dogs to dig them out The chameleon went up to the man and asked why he was in the forest The lizard trapper told him he was there to ...

Gold Necklace. Source:  PxHere . Once upon a time, there were two girls, Linda and Louise, who were the best of friends. They grew up in the same streets, went to the same school, and did literally everything together until Linda moved away for college one day. Before Linda moved away, she gave Louise a golden necklace as a token of their friendship and told her to keep it safe until she come backs the next summer. Louise promised to take great care of the necklace. She kept necklace safe by wearing it around her neck; however, one day, the necklace broke and fell off her neck without her noticing it. Louise did not notice this until a few days later, but when she did, she did not bother to tell her best friend, Linda. The next summer rolls around... Linda knocked on Louise's door and said, "Bestie, I am back for the summer!" Louise came running to the door as soon as she heard Linda's voice.  "I am coming, Linda! I will be right there,...

Growing up, I hated reading out loud in class. That was honestly my least favorite part about reading classes. Even to this day, I hated being called on to read things out loud. However, I noticed when I read the Jataka Tales out loud, I got through it a lot faster and I didn't skip over any words like when I am just reading it in my head. Personally, the advantages of reading out loud is I don't skip over words I usually do when I am doing silent reading. I also get a better understanding of the text as well. Not only that but I enjoy the reading a lot more and I don't get distracted as easily. As for disadvantages, I personally don't like reading out loud because I don't like hearing myself read. I might try reading some readings out loud later on, but there aren't that much time left in this semester so I am unsure. Books. Source: Flickr .

The Too-Clever Merchant While Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares, the Bodhisatta was born into a merchant's family and his name was Wise When he grew up he entered into partnership with another merchant named Wisest and traded with him The two took 500 wagons of merchandise from Benares to the country-districts, where they disposed of their wares, returning afterwards with the proceeds to the city When it came time for dividing, the Wisest said, "I must have a double share" Wise asked him, "why?' Wisest replied back, "Because while you are only Wise, I am Wisest. And Wise ought to have only one share to Wisest's two" Wise said, "But we both had an equal interest in the stock-in-trade and the oxens and waggons. Why should you have two shares?" Wisest said, "Because I am Wisest" They kept arguing about the situation until Wisest came up with a plan Wisest made his father hide in a hollow tree and told the old man to sa...

Let the stress energize you. This picture represents me because I work better under stress and this is probably why I procrastinate so often. To respond to the stress, I complete everything that stresses me out in that moment to relieve it. Sometimes, being wrong is the only way we can learn. As for this picture, I hate being wrong and I am very stubborn in arguments. I won't back down until I am right. And it sucks because I know I am in the wrong sometimes. It is true that we learn from our mistakes and being wrong; it just sucks sometimes.

Mosquito. Source:  svg . The Foolish Friend While Brahmadatta was reigining in Benares, the Bodhisatta gained his livelihood as a trader In those days in Kasi, there dwelt a number of carpenters Of all the carpenters, there was a bald grey-haired man who was chopping up some wood, while his head glistened like a copper bowl, when a mosquito settled on his scalp and stung him The carpenter said to his son, "My boy, there's a mosquito stinging me on the head; do drive it away." The son told him to hold still but the father rushed him The son raised a sharp axe on high with intent to only kill the mosquito, but he cleft his father's head in twain; therefor, the old man fell dead on the spot Bodhisatta saw this and said "Sense-lacking friends are worse than foes with sense; Witness the son that sought the gnat to slay, But cleft, poor fool, his father's skull in twain." Bibliography:  https://archive.org/stream/jatakatales00fran#page/44/mo...

The King and the Stick-Gatherer The king, Benares Brahmadatta was roaming around looking for fruits and flowers when he stumbled across a woman who was picking up sticks in the grove The king fell in love with her at first sight and became intimate with her right then and there, which is when Bodhisatta was conceived The woman felt heavy from within as though weighed down with the bolt of Indra, she knew that she was going to become a mother and told the king The king gave her the signet-ring from his finger and said "if it be a girl, spend this ring on her nurture; but if it be a boy, bring ring and child to me" The woman gave birth to a boy and eventually questioned his mother about who his father was The mother told him he was the son of the King of Benares The boy asked her for proof and she explained to him the ring story After the story, the boy asked her to take him to his father The mother took Bodhisatta to the king and told the king this was his son He d...

Motivation to not procrastinate. Source: Flickr And we are done with another week of school! One more week closer to winter break. I cannot wait for this semester to be over with already. This week has been an okay week. Nothing huge occurred that made this week any different than any other week. I did have my microbiology exam on Wednesday, and it went okay. I still do not think I can get an A in microbiology, so I am aiming for a B now. Honestly, this class is so early in the morning and I skipped it a lot this semester. My goal for the rest of the semester is to go to class everyday regardless of how tired I am in the morning. My grades have been going up ever since the second half of the semester started, so yay! For this week, I have an organic chemistry exam on Wednesday that I need to study for. I am planning on doing the reading assignments for this week early, so I could focus on my exam on Tuesday. I also have some events that I need to attend this week as well, but in...

As a college student, I find myself typing a lot, whether it is for a paper, a discussion post for an online class or something else. For me personally, I use keyboard shortcuts to limit the amount of my fingers leaving the keyboard and using the mouse to click something. I am not sure if most people knew this but it took me awhile to figure this out. Hopefully, this will be useful to you all! I have an apple product, so the button is different on Microsoft products. So on a MacBook: command C = copy command V = paste command X = cut command B = bold command U = underline command I = italicize command Z = undo command Y = redo For Microsoft products, you would press the ctrl button instead. Here's a picture of a keyboard. Source: pexels .

The Patient Buffalo there one was a great buffalo with might horns who laid under a tree asleep a monkey popped out and said "but i am not afraid of him, nor's he afraid of me' the monkey started dancing on the buffalo's back and the buffalo did no such thing back the monkey was trying hard to make the buffalo angry but he couldn't one day, a fairy appeared and told the buffalo of his strength the fairy asked why he doesn't react to the monkey's action because with one blow, he can knock the monkey out the buffalo replied back saying the monkey is small and nature has not given him much brain; therefore, why should he punish the monkey and make him suffer in order for him to be happy? the fairy was pleased with his answer and granted him a charm, so that no one can cause him to suffer again The seventh little quail talking to the flames. The Forest Fire the mother and father quail had seven little quails waiting to be fed the parents wo...

Honestly, in the beginning of the semester, it was hard for me to keep track of this class because I was so busy during the first half of the semester. I had so much going on in my sorority and in my life that I had troubles with keeping up with school. It has gotten a lot better now and I am glad I am able to finish the assignments assigned every week. I remember I used to get like maybe one or two done each week, but now, I do all of them and then extra credit on top to get to my goal for this class, which is to get an A! I learned how to manage my time better and use it efficiently because theres not a lot of time when you are in college. You just can't! Source: Flickr .

Now is the time to go beyond your comfort zone. I chose this picture because I don't like going out of my comfort zone to do things. I am trying to break out of my shell and try new things, but I am honestly so complacent and it sucks sometimes . because I am not adventurous. Look for opportunity. I chose this picture because I come across many opportunities but I never take them. It sucks to say that because I am applying for PA school in a year and I need to shadow and get my hands on . experience hours in to even get a chance to get accepted into a program.

Guilty Dog. Source: Pixabay . The Guilty Dogs A king drove the city in his magnificent chariot, but at the end of the night, the chariot was left in the courtyard with the harnesses It started to rain during the night; therefore the palace dogs wanted to have some fun, so they chewed up the leather harnesses and slipped away before the dawn The king found out about his harnesses and his men told him the straps were chewed up by the dogs The king commanded them to kill every dog they see in the city The dogs heard about the kings order and cried bitterly because the innocent ones did not have anything to do with this The chief dog of the pack asked why they were all sad because it is impossible for any dog of the city to enter the palace gates besides the dogs of the palace The chief dog stepped up by going out to find out guilty one to show to the king to protect the innocent dogs from getting killed The chief dog went along through the city and at every step, men were s...

Union is Strength There was a clever Fowler who could imitate the quail's note exactly; therefore, he used this to call the quails to trick them After he uses the call, a number of quails would come out together and the Fowler would throw a net over them and bagged them all There was one clever bird out of the whole population who helped the quails to freedom The clever bird told his fellow bird friends to pop their head out through one of the meshes of the net when they felt the net drop over them, and then at the word, they fly away together They used this method the next time they heard the call; it was a huge success for them because they got the net stuck into a bush in order for them to escape The Fowler did not give up because he knew they would fight sooner or later, so he kept on trying to catch them One day, a fight occurred because a quail stepped on another's toe This wasn't good because they kept fighting and no one was able to lift up the net by them...

BCA month. Source: pixabay . I realized I have not reflected on the past few weeks of school on my blog; therefore, I will make an update. I do not remember these past few weeks clearly, but I will try my best to go into detail on what I do remember. I believe I have had quite a few exams these past few weeks and I actually studied ahead of time this time around, and it definitely showed through my grades. I wished I did this earlier in the school year, so I would not have to push myself so hard towards the end of the semester. I believe I am slowing reaching my goal for this class as well. Slowly but surely! I am getting better each week at completing ever assignment and doing extra credit as well for the past points I have missed from the other weeks. BCA month has just ended as well, which lifted a lot of stress from my plate. I joined a sorority last semester and was able to experience my first breastfest. Not going to lie, it was very stressful but I enjoyed the experience I ...

The Dishonest Friend A man went on a journey and he asked his friend to take care of the plough until he returns The friend promised to take great care of it; however, as soon as the man left, he sold the man's plough and kept the money The man came back from his journey and asked for the plough back The friend explained that his house got infested with rats and one night, a very big rat came by and ate the plough up One day the man took the friend's boy for a walk and hid him in this house and said he was not to leave until he came back The man went back to his friend and the friend panicked and basically accused him of murdering his son The man told him a hawk carried him away but the friend did not believe him They took this to the court and the judge said "Who ever heard of a hawk carrying off a boy?" Then the man said out of pettiness "And who ever heard, my lord, of a rat eating a plough?" After this, the plough and the son was returned to ...

This picture reminded me of my childhood. Source: pxhere . Last week, I had a reminder set up everyday towards the end of the day to remind me to write something that made me happy that day. I am glad I was able to do this experiment because looking back on it today, it made me really happy because this school semester has been really stressful for me. I think once the year 2020 hits, I am going to try to do this everyday and see what happens. I really hope I am able to keep up with it!

Dream big... and dare to fail. This represents me because I set big goals and always fail to achieve them. I noticed that if I set smaller goals and take baby steps to reaching the big end goal, I am able to achieve them a lot easier. I feel like this applies to many people as well.  Connect with others to reduce stress. Personally, I like telling people about my stresses, but at the same time I don't as well. I work better when I am under stress and telling people about my stress helps. However, I'm not going to get anywhere if I don't stop yapping my mouth and actually doing something to relieve the stress.