Blog 6

I know for a fact that I struggle at finding balance in several areas in my life. I tend to allow something to affect me so much so that I drag myself down and can’t find a balance to make myself feel better. Too many times I fail to realize that a certain struggle I am going through does not mean the end of the world, and there is a bright tunnel to look forward to at the end. Reading this blog question is very significant in my life right now. Because it is coming to the end of the road for me in my college career, I am constantly thinking about what is ahead of me and what I will do with my life. Along with that, I think about my relationship with my boyfriend, which is long distance. I guess this is a tough personal thing to talk out loud about, but because we are several hours apart in distance, I allow myself to feel emotional and deeply sad when I can’t see him for several weeks at a time. While he is able to realize that we are going to be ok and everything will end up all right because we will be together in New Orleans starting in May, I fail to think about the positive light at the end of the road and make myself sad that I am not with him at that moment. When I am going through a hard time, I tend to cut off my loved ones and God from my life, when in fact this should be a time when I should realize that they are there for me and realize the unconditional love they have for me. I feel that all of these things are areas I need to work on so that I can achieve both balance and freedom in my life If I allow myself to focus on the good that will come out of things, rather than make myself feel saddened by little things that are happening in that moment, I can find that ultimate freedom that Ignatius talks about. 

Blog 5

It’s not the easiest talking about yourself, but maybe that’s a sign that I should be more appreciative of who God made me. When I think about it, I truly am so grateful for the gifts that God has given me. As humans, I think we take for granted the fact that God has made us each so unique with talents and skills that makeup who we are as individuals.

I feel I am who I am because of my parents. Yes, some of the talents and gifts I have are part of skills I have developed along life’s path, but the life skills and virtues I have are from the people who raised me. If I were to say I was proud of three certain virtues I have I would say they were kindness, respect, and compassion. I realize when I think about myself and truly reflect, there isn’t a day that goes by where those three virtues aren’t used. I know I am always kind to people and I genuinely feel that I always look for the kindest ways to treat people. I know that I like to be treated with kindness, and I feel that as people, it is so important to be kind to one another. Respect is another virtue that I feel I always obtain. My parents raised me to not only be respectful to them, but to everyone around me. I know that people have personally approached my parents about how impressed they are with the respect I show to them. Lastly, compassion is I think my strongest virtue. I truly have so much empathy and understanding for others. I am constantly mindful of what others are going through and have a heavy heart when I know someone is sad. I think what I want to do for a living shows my compassion. I am currently majoring in Theatre Arts at Loyola but next year plan to attend grad school in Special Education. I have worked with special needs children throughout my life and the love I have for those kids is hard to put in words. I feel so much compassion for them. My goal is to combine my talent in the arts and my passion for special needs children and open a theatre for special needs kids in the New Orleans area.

           After writing this blog I realized how thankful l am for the talents and virtues God has given me. Realizing these gifts I have more on a daily basis I feel will help me be more thankful for who I am as a person and will bring me even closer to God.

Blog 4

I guess it is always hard comparing my life to someone who was such an influential religious leader, but when learning about Ignatius’ life, I quickly realized that he was a person just like me. Ignatius went through several different aspects of his life like any average person goes through. He had to suffer at times, go through his young wild days, question his spirituality, go through schooling, etc… There are several aspects of Ignatius’ life that I would compare to mine. First of all, his romantic side as a young man is something I would relate to myself. I would consider myself someone who is a romantic. While he was a man who wanted to win the hand of a woman as a knight, I would consider myself like a girl version of this. His conversion is also something I would relate to. Although I wouldn’t say I went through the same kind of conversion, at the age of 18, when I first started college, I feel I started to realize more of who I was as a spiritual person and who I’d grow to be throughout my time at college. This I feel is similar to Ignatius and the way he began his spiritual journey to a better understanding of Christianity. Another important part of Ignatius’ life that I would relate to my life was his time of service. When forming the Jesuits, he knew service would be a huge part of their order both in working in schools and helping the sick. One of the most important times in my life was when I got the opportunity to travel with my church to Belize. There, I was able to work in schools and religious communities spreading the word of Christ, helping the sick, and rebuilding a church. This is the aspect of my life that I would most relate to Ignatius’. With all of these moments in my life, I realize how closely I could relate to the life of Ignatius Loyola and even the life of many of the Jesuits. It is amazing how to see how we can all grow in our faith throughout our lives.