Kelton Castillo Mar 4, 2022 Good time not a long time Woof I don’t even know how to start this thing…I guess I’m dead. It’s either I’m dead or I’m doing this for my Moreau class, chances are I’m still very much alive right now. However, if you are reading this or listening, whichever you are doing is because you are someone I hold dear to me. When I think about my life and what it meant to, or what it means to live a life well live several thoughts come to my mind. For starters, I think of all the people who were by my side in the good times and bad times. In addition to that, I also think of all the good and bad decisions I made throughout my life because I’m not perfect. At the end of the day I’m human, as much as I say I identify as an apple, so I made a lot of mistakes, but I try to learn from them as much as possible. Also, I think of my goals, my dreams, and my achievements. I think of where I am now, where I was in the past, and where I want or wanted to be in the future. Lastly, I think about whether I died happy or will I die happy and what were the factors that contributed to my happiness might be. I’m going to start this by asking the first question from our week one QQC, but with a little twist to it. Did I live a life well lived? I want my eulogy to not only praise me, but I also want those who read my eulogy or hear my eulogy to know the real me, to know that I face struggles, to know that I was not always the happy, optimistic, extroverted person that I seem to be on the outside. There were days when I was down, extremely down, days when I wanted to throw in the towel, and give up. But I’m still here… well at least I was, the day I die it’s not going to be because I threw in the towel, I don’t know what the reason is going to be but I know it’s not going to be because I gave up. I have learned to enjoy the little things. I was practicing mindfulness day by day to learn to not only bring joy to others but also to myself. Why we need to slow down our lives by Pico Iyer states, “It’s easy to feel as if we’re standing two inches away from a huge canvas that’s noisy and crowded and changing with every microsecond. It’s only by stepping farther back and standing still that we can begin to see what that canvas (which is our life) really means, and to take in the larger picture”. That quote from one of our week one readings really speaks to me because it emphasizes the importance of taking things slow and enjoying the little things. I have the opportunity of attending a top institution, well had the opportunity of attending a top institution which is Notre Dame. ND’s community is amazing. It has influenced me to be a better person to fight for my dreams no matter what. There’s times when I do feel like I’m not doing enough, I mean how can I not feel this way when I’m surrounded by people who are doing great, or seem like they’re doing so much better than me. When there’s people like Father Hesburgh who as we saw in the film week 2 of Moreau has accomplished so much outside and inside this institution. I have a lot of dreams, I have a lot of goals, I have always said that I’m destined for greatness, and I am. I mean, at such a young age I have accomplished so much I made it into a top institution, I have worked along with NFL teams, I have inspire kids, I have help rebuild houses for communities, I have accomplish a variety of things that many people of my age have never accomplish, I never got a chance to do. When I die I want to be remembered as a person who gave back to his community, who always tried to uplift others, and who always was doing something that they were passionate about. It’s sad to say that I think about my death often, think about what will happen afterwards, and what I have done with my life into that moment. An excerpt from the text/audio, Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die , by Ruth Graham reads, “That is because since 2017, she has made it her mission to revive the practice of memento mori, a Latin phrase meaning ‘Remember your death’ The concept is to intentionally think about your own death every day, as a means of appreciating the present and focusing on the future. It can seem radical in an era in which death - until very recently - has become easy to ignore”. This line from one of our week 3 Moraus stood out to me because it made me feel less bad about thinking about my death. Thinking about my death does not have to be a bad thing, it could be an empowering thing, and to me that’s what it is. The way I live my life is in my opinion very rewarding I have grown to be more open more vulnerable and more understanding of certain things that a one point I was too immature to understand. The things that I do allow me to be myself they allow me to express who I am and be the real me. I surround myself with crowds who won judge me for being the real me, which at one point in my life I didn’t do I will try to fit in season think I was broken. And it’s not to say I’m not broken filler we’re all broken in someway however I have learned to embrace my broken pieces and I love them I love me love the group I’m a part of all of the things I do. A line from Navigating Your Career Journey by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development that really spoke to me reads, “The idea is that the best career choices for a person are those that allow him/her to implement as many part of his/her self-concept as possible”. This line resonated with me so much because I feel that as long as what I am doing with my life brings me joy and is fulfilling, it doesn’t matter what I do. Obstacles to my greatness because one is not on mine. Sometimes although I am a big supporter I tend to be my biggest hater as well, which is very problematic. I got a reflect an order decisions are made from my life, along with all the mistakes I made drama life, and other good things I don’t drown my life. But, reflection can sometimes be pointless. A quote from The Right Way to be Introspective (Yes, There's a Wrong Way) by Tasha Euric that really spoke to me reads, “We can spend endless amounts of time in self-reflection but emerge with no more self-insight than when we started”. Disqu from one of our wig four weeks six readings really spoke to me because it emphasizes my point that no matter how much self reflection you do what is it gonna be pointless. You can reflect as much as you want and still be at point a and never reach Palm Beach. But that’s not the point the point is that although I experience a lot of hardship, although there’s times when I’m depressed, I’m still here, well at least I was here. But I know that whatever reason whatever the reason for my dad was it was not because I gave up. Introl my time on desert I managed to make a lot of people happy, along with myself. So I’ll leave you a final quote from from Why the only future worth building includes everyone by Pope Francis, from week 7 of Moreau, that really stuck with me reads, “Happiness can only be discovered as a gift of harmony between the whole and each single component”. As you live your life aspire to uplift others and to uplift yourself. Period. Do what makes you happy we love KC