Self-Control & Peace

Self-Control and Peace



To live like you were dying isn't necessarily hurry up and do the things that you have not yet done or wished you had time to do.  It is about being at peace with yourself and others.  It is about becoming the best person you can be within your means and doing what is right so that you can enjoy eternal happiness in heaven.

Self-control is the ability to control one's emotions and behavior in the face of temptations and impulses. There are times that we exercise self-control and obviously there are times that we don't.  

Peace is the state of quiet, tranquility.

These two things along with everything are choices.  It is a choice to do all that we do.  You can obviously choose to do good or choose to do bad.  We are taught that we are made with inherent goodness - we want to do good because God made us good.  However, with the gift of free will, we tend to make different choices.  Some are good and some are bad.  We know that we can be forgiven - but we must ask for it.

The end of 8th grade year is a time that there are students and teachers that may not exercise self-control as much as they would like.  Some of the days are not as peaceful as we would like.  It is an exciting time, a frustrating time, a sad time (for some), and a busy time.  There are things we want to do and things we have to do.  Some of that can make us unsettled and may make us decide to do things that we know we really shouldn't.  We have to fight within us to maintain the proper behavior and do what we know is right so that all of us can be peaceful because we have exercised our self-control.  These are important fruits of the Holy Spirit that we should use much more frequently than we do.  It's all about thinking before you speak or act.  

1.  What are some things that make you not use your self-control?

2.  How can you use self-control to benefit you and others during this crazy time of social distancing and stay at home orders?

3.  What do you pledge to do to make sure that you continue to exercise self-control to bring you and those around you, more peace?

4.  How are you finding peace with ending your time at St. Ambrose the way that it is happening?   

22 comments:

  1. 1. There are a couple things that sometimes make me not use my self-control. One of them is getting really worked up and frusterated about something that isn't the end of the world, like getting a bad grade on a small assignment. I have to remember to be calm and there is going to be more grades so it is not a big deal. Having patience and not listening to people is another thing that makes me lose my self-control. When I am frusterated about something, it is harder to have patience and try to listen to people if they are trying to help me.

    2. I can try to use self-control to benefit me and other people during this time by being understanding and calm if I don't agree with someone. Another thing I can use self control in during quarantine is when my sister is being really annoying and will not be quiet. I am also going to try to have more self control during this time by being more patient with my family if they are not listening to me, and I will try to hear them out if they have something to say.

    3. I pledge to be more understanding and flexible with others to continue with having self-control with everyone to keep more peace. I will try to have patience when things may not go the way I expected. Another thing I will do to continue to excercise self control and keep the peace is having more happiness and positivity during this time instead of freaking out and going absolute crazy in the house.

    4. I am finding peace with ending my time at St.Ambrose the way it is happening in a few ways. The first thing I am doing to help find peace is by thinking about all the memories that happened while I was in middle school. Instead of thinking negativly of how we are ending gradeschool and how it is not fair, I am looking all my yearbooks and remembering the good times. Another thing I am doing to find peace with ending STA is trying to be positive through this whole thing and praying that everyone stays safe. Even though there has been some drama in these past couple years, it has definitely been the most craziest three years of my life.

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  2. 1. When I don't use self control it is probably when I am mad.I usually start doing stuff that I would not normally do. I usually would want more and get angry so I would complain and hit things because it is easier to take your anger out with punching and throwing things. I don't like when I do this and I am trying to work on it.

    2. Really what I can do with others is just try not to get on their bad side and try and be nice. Nobody wants to be in this and I think that what IP can do is play my part so people don't get mad at me and don't not wanna talk to me. I need to just not push peoples limits and do my own thing.

    3. I pledge to not be a pain and go with the flow. I just don't want to bother my family to make them mad at me during this quarantine. they are the only people that I can hang out with during quarantine because we are quarantining. I just need to go with how the mood is and just relax with everything that is happening.

    4. I mean there really is no other way to find peace with it other than just accepting it and thinking that we are done. Its annoying because we have waited 9 years to graduate and when we finally get to we can't. We can't do anything about the circumstances that we are in but just we can't do what we've been waiting to do all this time, and that's graduate.

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  3. 1. I usually don't use my self control when I am either stressed or angry. I say stuff without thinking, and I don't use my brain before I act. It's easier to take your anger out on physical things than to just think about why you are angry.

    2. Since we are in quarantine all of our patience is short. We will tend to just lash out instead of calming down. Self-control will help us because we just need to stay calm when it is easy to not stay calm.

    3. I pledge to not be a pain to deal with during quarantine. I will try not to be stubborn because we are all going thorough this together. If I am mad everyone else will get mad. I need to stay positive and kind.

    4. I am finding peace with my end at St. Ambrose by just knowing that everything has to come to a end sometime. I have been here for nine years, and it is just unfortunate that it has to end this way. I am not all that sad though. I am still talking to my friends during quarantine, and it has made it much easier to go through this. I have to realize that we will still talk even after eight grade year.

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  4. 1. I don't use self- control when it comes to sugar/ sweets. I keep going back for more and that causes me to be a little crazy hence all the sugar in my system. Another thing that causes me to lack self-control is when I get annoyed with my family especially my brother. I can get mad a lot and say some not nice things.

    2. I can use self- control to hold back my urges to be crazy and lash out at others for no reason. Lashing out can help me sometimes take control of how i'm feeling, but it's not the best way to deal with my anger. Instead I can use self- control and take deep breaths.

    3.I pledge to be more patient with my classmates who can get on my nerves at times and also my family since we are all under the same roof for an extended period of time. I can stay out of issues in my house and class. And I can continue to be positive and look on the bright side through all of this.

    4. The way that I am finding peace with the end of eighth grade is trying to remember the fun times we've had. I'm looking on the bright side, and trying to put it out into the universe that everything will be alright and we will get to see our class, and have some sort of graduation. I am trying to stay close and on everyones good side during quarantine, but I am also looking towards the future and trying to talk to people who will be in my class in high school.

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  5. 1) I lack self control when I am angry or flustered. When I get mad I tend to think less and act more leading to my actions not always being the way I want them to be. This is when I tend to lack self control.

    2) Self- Control will benefit my family during this time. It will benefit them because instead of freaking out I can stay calm keeping the peace. Being in these close quarters and only seeing them for a long time keeping the peace is needed.

    3) I pledge to be more flexible. In doing this I can remember that everyone has things that want to do and can't do at this time and step back. In doing this I can change my schedule to incorporate Grace's zoom schedule and other people trying to train.

    4) To find peace I am trying to step back. If I were to know it would have ended early I would have done the last week differently. To keep peace I a trying to stay out of any of the new drama so that I can keep all the good memories and end it that way. Overall, I am just trying to remember all the fun times and awesome memories.

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  6. 1. I do not use self-control when someone says something about my family or close friends. I can't even say I am trying to work on it, because I am not. Family is off limits no matter what. Same thing with my close friends. Even if people joke about my family then we will have a problem. I am the only one who can talk bad about my family.

    2. I can use self-control with my family during this time. If my brothers make me mad, then I can remove myself from the situation. I can also use self-control to become closer with my brothers. I can get closer with my brothers by forgiving them after an argument and go play catch.

    3.I pledge to not retaliate after someone says something to me. I think it will be easy as long as I remember that we are all struggling, and they are probably in a bad mood. I feel like this will bring peace.

    4. I feel that the only way to find peace is just to look forward. You can't move forward if you are still looking back. I am looking back just a little, but I am trying to think positive. What helps me become at peace with it is high school. I will miss Ambrose and my class, but I can't wait to finally be in a class with my friends who are going to SLUH. I have a lot of friends going there and I can't wait. I won't forget the good memories I had at Ambrose, and I won't forget the bad ones either.

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  7. I am usually really good about self control. When I lose it I am more than mad at someone. I try to use my words instead of my actions. The only time I lose self control is when someone else loses it, and gets their anger out on me. Most of the time I try to ignore, but sometimes I can’t.

    I can use self control during this time to stay calm during the pandemic. I can also use it to be patient and understanding with my family. Instead of yelling, we need to understand each other.

    I pledge to understand my family. Instead of arguing I will understand them. I pledge to keep my cool if they start getting mad at me. I will try to have talks with them more often, and listen before jumping to conclusions.

    I am finding peace with the ending time and am looking forward to the future. I am looking at the benefits of highschool instead of the disadvantages of leaving St. Ambrose. I also try to look at how this always happens, we need to move on.

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  8. One thing that makes me lose self-control is losing. I am a very competitive person and sometimes when I lose, I might get really frustrated. Most of the time, I can silence my emotions and hide my anger but if I lose in a cheap way, I can get pretty angry and lose self-control.

    I can use self-control during this pandemic by being patient. Eventually, the situation will be resolved and everyone can go back to living normal lives but for now, we all have to be patient before the virus spreads even more. I can also use self-control to stay calm and not bother anyone.

    I pledge to not respond to my sister when she is being difficult with me. If I ignore my sister she will eventually stop. I also pledge to continue to stay patient and calm during these tough times.

    The only way to find peace in a situation like we are in now is to look forward to high school and college. Those graduations will be much bigger. It's unfortunate that the only field trip middle schoolers go on is their eighth grade mystery day trip and that has been taken away from us.

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  9. I lose self control when I am sad or angry. These are the times I am most impulsive and decide to do withou thinking. I make decisions that impact mysellf and others in harmful ways because I let my emotions get the best of me.

    I can benifit everyone by staying inside and not seeing my friends. I can help benifit my family by thinking before speaking and not losing my cool on all of them.

    I pledge to do my school work so I dont have to fight with my mom about not having things done on time.

    I haven't found peace yet. I feel like it hasn't ended for me. I havent gotten to say goodbye to the people and the school that was a huge part of my life for 9 years. People here who have gotten me through so much and there is no big ending or goodbye so it doesnt really feel over.

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  10. Times that I don't use self control is when I am in the moment of doing something or when I am upset. If I am in the moment of doing something I might not think before I do something and make the wrong choice. If I am upset I also might not think before I do something and then make a wrong choice because I am upset at something. I might take my anger out on other people and not realizing that I am not mad at them, I am mad at something else.

    I can use self control at this time by not getting upset at my friends or family. I might get upset at them because I am stuck at home all day and am bored. I might get upset for no reason, just because I am trapped at home. I can use self control and not get upset and know that I can occupy myself with other things.

    I pledge to be understanding and think before I speak or act. If I am understanding then that can help me know that everyone is also going through the same thing that I am. I can think before I speak or act so then their will be less conflict.

    I am finding peace in how things ended with St.Ambrose is remembering all of the good times we had. I am sad that we didn't get to have the 8th grade year that we all had heard about. Now I just need to keep looking forward to going to high school.

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  11. 1. One thing that makes me not use self-control is anytime you keep asking someone to do something important, and they just set it aside, over, and over, and over again. That really makes me mad and I tend to lose my self-control.

    2. You can use self-control to not make any rash decisions of leaving your home and breaking quarantine codes by doing things that are usually have a lot of people involved or to stop yourself from losing it inside your home all day.

    3. I pledge that I will not overreact or lose my self-control during quarantine to help my self and others around me. To keep calm and understand that this will all be over soon.

    4. One way I am finding peace is and realizing that this was going to happen eventually, even if it is this way other than at school. And that I have to move on and shouldn't be hung up about leaving. And focus mor eon high school.

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  12. 1. I usuallytry to stay calm and composed but when I'm nervous angry or in a state of fear I act on impulse, everyone does. Being poised all the time is impossible, you're going to get ticked off or afraid and sometimes you speak hard truth or blow up because you/someone else messed up. Anger is a human emotion and you can't always control it because you act on it in nonvirtuous ways.

    2. Self-control can be hard to find especially now because people get restless and they want to do things, people want to be able to go outside and see things. You need self control to relaize that this will end and you can start staggering towards regular life.

    3. I pledge to not make my parents angry by not talking to anyone/being secluded. They don't like that I'm a solitary person or maybe they don't like that I don't need someone looking over my shoulder all the time. They want me to be inclusive and social but that's harder for me so I pledge to leave my room more often and be tolerable.

    4. I'm not finding much peace honestly, I never imagined this happening but knowing this is ending how it is is infuriating, I feel cheated because everyone has worked so hard throughtout the past years(s) just to be told no. I'm never going to see 23/24 of these people ever again and i'd rather be able to say goodbye rather than be forced to move on.

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  13. 1. When someone keeps asking me questions when I am trying to watch a show work on something. When i am upset or get frustrated because in the moment it is hard to calm down and all you want to do is yell and not try to calm down.

    2. When you are in a house all together for most of the day you get tired of the people around you . You aren't used to spending that much time with the people you live with and sometimes you just want to do your own thing. So by using self control everyone in your house will be in a better mood so you wont get frustrated with each other.

    3. Think before I do anything and to try to be as calm as possible in situations that would stress me out.

    4. Knowing that I can still talk to my friends and that I am starting a new chapter of life. Telling myself its ok to be upset and miss people but also that I will so many new friends and people in high school

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  14. 1) Some things that don't make me use my self-control are when I get super mad. I don't hold back on letting my anger out sometimes and my self-control just goes away. I believe it is okay to let your anger out because it's not healthy to hold it in.

    2) Some things that I can use self-control to benefit others is staying inside and not being with others. I can follow the guidelines during this time and social distance from people. If I go out too I can follow the guidelines of wearing a face mask.

    3) I pledge to stay calm and follow what the rules are. I can stay in contact with others but not meet up with them. I also need to focus more on myself and not go crazy during this time.

    4) My way of finding peace really hasn't come yet. I feel like I really didn't get a true goodbye and it really hurts. I didn't truly care too much about my class but I kind of did at the same time. I've gotten a lot of time to think during quarantine and I feel like I'm really going to miss St. Ambrose. I feel like even though a lot of people in my class made me go crazy and make this year kind of hard. We all pushed through together and I'm going to miss that about us. We all had our differences but we were a family at heart.

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  15. There are many times when I don't use self control. Some times when I don't use self control is when I am mad at someone or something. Another time when I don't use self control is when I want something to go my way.

    There are lots of ways I can use self control during quarantine. One way I do this is I can be more understanding of my family. Another way I can use self control during quarantine is I can be more patient with my family.

    I can pledge to understanding and to be more patient. I can just try to satay in my own world and not mess with my family. That is what I can pledge to during this time.

    There are many ways I am finding peace with the ending of St. Ambrose. One way I am is I am still talking to a lot of my friends. That is how I am finding peace at the ending time of St. Ambrose.

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  16. Most of the time when I do not use self control is when I'm mad or upset at someone or something. If I'm mad enough at something I'm not going to stop, anger gets the best of me sometimes. Most of the time it's over stupid things but sometimes it over serious things.

    I can use self control in many ways during quarantine. I can not get mad over little things. I can get along with my little brother and listen to my mom. I can be patient with everyone and spend time with everyone and do fun things while were home.

    I can pledge to get everything done on time and to be more patient with people who I dislike. I can also pledge to start listening more and not being disrespectful.

    A way that I'm finding peace is by still talking to all of my friends. I'm going to miss all of the teachers but I am also ready to get out and go to high school. I'm going to miss most of the people at STA.

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  17. 1. There are a few things that make me not use self control. One of them is when someone says something that isn't very nice to me or my friends. Another one is when I don't get the grade that I should've and I know I could've gotten a better grade.

    2. Self control can benefit me and others during this time in many ways. It can help me to be understanding with my family, and realize that we are all stuck in this house in the same situation.

    3. I pledge to leave my family alone and try not to annoy them. I will also try to stay calm when they get on my nerves.

    4. Honestly i'm just trying not to think about it. I am going to miss this class a lot, I have made so many friends and i'm not ready to not see and talk to them everyday. I think I need to realize that I will probably still talk to them.

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  18. 1. I don't use self-control when I get very mad or I am just at my braking point with someone. It is really hard for me to keep my mouth shut,especially when that person just keeps going on and on. When this happens, I don't even think about self-control, I just speak my mind.

    2. I can use self-control during this time by,staying at home and not going and hanging-out with others. This can keep me safe and healthy and my family because if I am not getting exposed,they wouldn't get anything from me. That is how I can use self-control during these times.

    3. I pledge that I try and keep my temper under control and not burst out yelling at someone. I will make sure that I don't go over the edge as fast as I usually do,I feel quarantine has helped me with self-control. That is what I pledge to do to stay self-controlled.

    4. I personally at first was having a really bad time keeping peace to what was happening.I then started to realized that there is nothing me,my friends, or family can do to change what is happening. I am trying to keep telling myself that after this, I am going to have the best time with my friends before high school.

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  19. 1) There are many things that make me lose my self control. For instance, when I lose in sports. I get really angry and upset. But I have to remember that There is always another time. Also when I get in trouble for something I did not do. This makes me really upset but I have to remember to calm down.

    2) I need to use self control with my siblings. I have to spend the whole quarantine with them so might as well get along with them. If I get upset and mad, I am not helping the problem. I always have to remember to calm down and access the situation.

    3) I will work on forgiving others and not getting mad. I will obey my parents and do what they say, because getting mad will only make it worse. I will try to help others of they lose their self control.

    4) I am going to keep in tact with my friends over the years and remember all the things we did. I will never forget them and will hang out with them when this is all over. I also can't wait to make new friends in high school.

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  20. 1. Some things that make me not use my self-control is when I've had a bad day and people just want to push my buttons. Or when I'm already fed up with my brothers that I just lash out. I have a short temper but that doesn't mean I need to exert the same amount of self control like everybody else.
    2. I can realize that everyone else is going through this to not just me. My brothers are stir crazy and my stepmom is working from home with four boys there. It's hard for everyone in their own individual way. So, when I feel like lashing out because I'm upset over all of this I need to remember other people have it much worse than me and my dad's side of the family, my moms too.
    3. I pledge to do is all I can to help with the boys. When Sarah is on a work call and they are done with school, I will occupy them and have fun with them. I will give up my time because her is more important.

    4. I'm not finding peace, frankly I'm really upset about it. This was our year, it was going to be so much fun! Then quarantine hit us like a bus and I am trying to keep in touch with people but it's hard. I honestly just want to give up and sink into the couch but I know I can’t do that.

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  21. 1. There are many times when I don't use self control. Sometimes when we are in class I make my friends laugh or they make me laugh. Sometimes when I am angry I lose self control. I have to remember to stay calm.

    2. I can use self control by staying home and not hanging out with friends so that it will be over faster. I can realize that everyone else going through the same thing. I can not be selfish.

    3. I pledge to practice my self control. I pledge to be more understanding and to be more patient. This is what I will do to make sure that continue to exercise self-control to bring you and those around you, more peace.

    4. I'm going to try to stay friends with as many people as I can from our class. this will help me find peace. I am also going to come and visit St. Ambrose as much as I can after I graduate.

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  22. some things that make me not use self control are when "my friends" say stuff about me that isn't true and when they think world revolves around them. Also when they are fake to people and cat like their friends and then talk behind their backs.

    I can use self control by just not being friends with them because they are toxic and they are the reason i don't use self control.

    trying to be more patient and not let everything get on my nerves and try to hear people out when they are talking.

    Honestly I like it better ending this way because there was so much drama in our class and now it is finally gone and I mean i miss the class but i can live without some people.

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