Eng 102 Reading

Quotation 3:

“I invented my life by taking for granted that everything I did not like would have an opposite, which I would like.”

By Coco Chanel

To enjoy your life you must be able to look at it optimistically, otherwise the joy of living would be lost. When Coco Chanel’s says she is taking everything she did not like granted because it has an opposite, she talks about taking the most distasteful of situations and turning it around to suit her own need. We are the scripter’s of our own destiny, no one but you can change your life. When you learn to change situations pressed on you to benefit yourself, is when you start wining. Life is too short to be wallowing about how unfair and not right the situations in your life are. We can make the best of our time only by making the effort of make sure that nothing, absolutely nothing can bow us down. Like when exams are coming near there is no point crying about how classes had just started and there is too much pressure. We do not like exams but does not mean we can escape it. To make the best of the situation we will turn it around, face our problems head-on, study hard and fast to achieve the best grades; Thus changing our situation from the fear of exams to the look forward to being on top. We are the winners.

Quotation 4:

“If two men on the same job agree all the time, then one is useless. If they disagree all the time, then both are useless”

By Darryl F. Zanuk

To successfully make team projects work, agreement between the team members is very essential. When Zanuk says complete agreement or complete disagreement shows the lack of incentive from one or all members of the team, he means complete potential that both team mates can provide is not utilized. He talks about synergizing, that is choosing a third alternative solution- not your way not my way but a third way than is better than what any one of us would come up with individually. Like the saying goes two heads is better than one, because instead of seeing a subject from our individual narrow perspective we would be looking at the same subject in different ways thus not only broadening our views but also coming up with better ideas. It is the fruit of respecting, valuing, cooperating and even celebrating each other’s differences. Like for example when I am working on team presentation, we have been assigned to talk about Persian civilization. So when one of my team mates thinking about it as ancient civilization whose data can be collected from the world history encyclopedia, I am thinking about using Google’s fast search engine to find any relevant information and then another team mate comes up with the idea that instead of everyone researching on the entire Persian civilization, we divide different parts of the civilization, such as art, administration, religion etc, among ourselves and the research on only that aspect of the civilization. Eventually through pooling all our ideas we not only came up with different ideas but also found the most efficient, less time consuming and easiest method to complete our assignment. Thus we not only solved problems, found opportunities, worked out differences- not through compromise, not even through cooperation but by creative cooperation we were able to find the third way.

Quotation 5:

“In every block of marble I see a statue;See it plainly as though it stood before me;Shaped and perfect in attitude and action;I have only to hew away the rough wallsWhich imprison the lovely apparitionTo reveal it to other eyes, as mine already sees it”

By Michelangelo

Michelangelo the great sculpture says that in every marble block he clearly sees the statue that he perceives it was meant to form. He felt he only had to hew away the excess marble to make other see the statue he clearly sees in that block of marble. This goes to actually mean that to achieve your goal, you have to begin with the end product in mind. By exactly visualizing our goal, we would be able to form exact method of achieving it. Thus as individuals or families or teams or organizations, we can shape our own future by creating mental vision or purpose for any project large or small. We do not just live today with no purpose in mind. We identify and commit ourselves to the principles, relationships and purposes that matter most to us. Like for example I want a home of my home, thus when I actually look at my piece of land I do not see the empty field with its patch of grass, instead I see the three storied architectural challenge with old world glamour red-bricked colonial house with its front porch out-door dining set, swing on the tree, car parked on its driveway, elegant yet simple garden with ivy growing on the walls. I see home, my dream home. Thus forming a mental picture of my goal I am also forming my mental plan to achieve my goal and make my dream home a living breathing reality that others would also e able to see. Thus I am committing myself to my vision.