Rodgers

Lauren Rodgers
Instructor D. Jizi
UWRT 1102-010
18 January 2016
Finding Happiness
In my own life, as it is for many others, it is hard sometimes to find happiness.
Being diagnosed with clinical depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder
(OCD), at an early age has caused me to focus on my faults and failures in life. My
disorders have come between happiness and myself multiple times, and have made me
shy away from other people and society. Although I may have my battles, I do find
happiness in simple things such as reading, writing, and physical activity. Along with
those, I also like to learn about history and cultures of different countries. I do this when
by traveling.
I have visited two continents, but six countries in total. I love airports, the
excitement of traveling to somewhere new and completely foreign to you. So far, I have
visited Jamaica, Mexico, England, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

I started

traveling in my early teens. My first trip was to Mexico when I was fourteen and then
Jamaica when I was fifteen. Recently, after I turned eighteen, I visited four countries in
Western Europe. My first stop was in London, England. I visited Buckingham Palace,
Piccadilly Circus and rode the Metro everyday for a week. Next were Paris, the Arc de
Triumph, Eiffel Tower, Versailles, and Notre Dame. Brussels and Amsterdam were the
next cities I visited. I loved tasting the food, learning the languages, and learning the
cultures and history of these countries. My favorite was the shepherds pie from London

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and Belgium waffles from Brussels. My favorite country was Great Britain, and it
inspired me to study abroad for a semester at Kings College in London.
In everyday life, when I cannot travel, distraction is the key for my happiness. All
of the things I do in my free time are activities that take my mind off of my thoughts and
pour them into creative and productive projects. I like to read books, no matter what
genre. Fiction and historical non-fiction biographies are my favorite to read because I
can lose myself in a story or someone elses real life story. Reading takes my mind off of
the present and it feels like I can become the characters. Along the same lines of
literature, I also like to write, specifically free writing. Just like the exercise in class I
like to free write my thoughts down in a journal everyday. The writing clears my head
and I can write down every thought that is formed in my brain. It feels as if the thoughts
are leaping out of my brain and onto the pages. I also like to write papers for my classes.
I try to spend as much time as I can on them, making them nearly perfect. Another
creative outlet of mine is painting. I paint almost everyday, usually scenes of nature,
countryside, and famous landmarks that I have seen around the world.
Besides being creative and traveling, I am a firm believer that exercise and proper
diet can be an affected form of natural medication. Exercise releases endorphins, a
natural feel-good chemical produced by the pituitary gland, located in the brain.
Everyday I go to the gym at my apartment complex and I workout for an hour and a half.
Besides going to the gym I also play running intensive sports, such as lacrosse and
soccer. Nutrition and exercise go hand in hand, one cannot be truly successful without
the other. In order to be properly energized I try to eat as healthy as possible, balancing a
good ration between fats, carbohydrates, and proteins.

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In conclusion, happiness is essential to human survival and it is something that

everyone has in one form or another. Without happiness it is hard to complete daily tasks
efficiently. My happiness is to channel thoughts through creative outlets and traveling.

1. Velcro words/phrases
a. My happiness is to channel thoughts through creative outlets and traveling
b. Although I may have my battles, I do find happiness in simple things such
as reading, writing, and physical activity
c. So far, I have visited Jamaica, Mexico, England, France, Belgium, and the
Netherlands
2. Feelings
a. Cheated
b. Engaged
c. Fascinated
d. Surprised
3. Questions
a. What drives you to find daily happiness?

Post peer review questions

1. I felt that the peer review was very helpful and brought a new way of looking at
review. It was very helpful to get feeling words about my paper and not just grammatical
or content fixing advice.
2. I felt a little uneasy going into the peer editing. I had never used this style of editing,
involving feelings. It made me nervous to see what people felt about my writing.
3. To improve this exercise maybe we could do a group effort, more than one-person
responds.