As I indulge myself into the second year of the Mindfulness & Cultural Development course I begin to reflect on the development of my mind as a young lady and notice the little changes that are contributing to the maturing of my mindset and perspectives in the world.

I have learned to find peace within every situation and try to separate unwanted thoughts so that they do not provoke any further events of depression. There is a huge difference in how I think and react from last year to this year. I tend to find myself logically thinking about situations that deserve pondering so that I can make better decisions. My decision-making process has changed vastly and I have learned to have a big desire to better my mindset and drive myself away from being the big pessimist I always was.

Last year, I always found myself in a state of mental pain, having many breakdowns, as well as having the worst possible thoughts up until hours as late as 5 in the morning. I wouldn’t do any homework because I was too busy indulging myself in the worst states of myself. The distinguishing factor between last year and this year is that this year I began an exploration to find a mindset that would showcase the best of me.

This year I found myself doing whatever possible to make myself happy, even if it included letting go of people I knew were not good for me… However I found the strength to do it because I gained a desire for a positive me–a me that wanted to accomplish so much more than I ever had because I was the one holding myself back. I contributed to my own faults and accounts of failure in the past and I now know the feeling of self-remorse. This year I realized what the problem was. This year I knew a quest for peace of mind was needed.