Why do you wake up in the morning?

I was -very interested- reading The Lord of the Flies some seconds ago but I HAD to stop because there is something stuck on my mind and if I do not write about it I will get really annoyed.

So, today in my Business & management lesson, Rachel (my teacher) asked me why I got up early -when it is still dark and cold- to go to school. Why? What for? What motivates you? Tricky one. Not telling you what I answered, too lame. Anyway, today's lesson was about MOTIVATION.

I introduce you to Frederick Winslow Taylor.

Once he said "Workers are lazy and are only motivated by money." Which is kinda true. People are lazy in a general way, with some exceptions, and workers are motivated by money. We work because in the end of the month we have all our bills to pay and $$$$ is necessary.

From Mayo's point of view (another writer), workers are not motivated JUST by money, but also by having their human/social need met.

Then, Abraham Maslow comes, with his freak smile. He scared me this morning.

Yeah, I know. He is a smart guy, though. This is Maslow's Hierarchy of needs:



Which I agree with. Once the basic need at the bottom are met, they go away. The remaining needs, are growth needs. Once these ones are initially fulfilled, they DO NOT go away. In fact, we will try to find new ways to satisfy these needs. It involves your potential, being the best you can be in as many areas possible. According to Maslow, only a small percentage of the population reaches the level of self-actualization.



At this stage (top), you have achieved full happiness and harmony in your life which will motivate you to accept and create challenges. He later modified his pyramid with an addition between the Esteem level and Self Actuation level that included creativity and surrounding yourself with beauty.

Certainly, there is a common sense approach to his theory, and when thought upon, you realize that if someone is consumed with the basic needs of life, then it would be difficult to move on to group activities and appreciation of the arts, much less act in the best interest of the motivator. However, once you move past the basics, the Maslow theory of motivation lends little to the notion that people are motivated by different things. Not everyone is motivated to join group activities or pursue love, but it doesn't make them any less motivated.

In a way, money is still linked to the theories, as in the beginning of the post.
One thing that makes me happy is traveling. I LOVE traveling. By plane, car, train... the second one is shopping. If you are a woman, you know what I am talking about. Shopping is relaxing, exciting, makes us feel better. Being here in England, is also interesting and a lot of money was needed. We all dream about that gorgeous apartment or the dream beach house with a fancy car in the garage. And my beautiful dog running in the yard. Mom and dad drinking tea outside by the pool... OK!

To be honest, I am one of those who will never reach the top of the pyramid. Every time I find out what makes me happy and enjoy it the most, I get bored. Then, I have to start searching for something else, and the cycle never ends. You go from the top to the previous one, to the top again then back down. I always want more, what I cannot have. Maybe this is the meaning of my life. Searching for that one thing that makes me happy! I do not know if someday I will find it and stop searching, but I hope so. Dreaming is good, makes me feel alive. We need to have something to fight for! Otherwise, life gets too boring.

What about you? What do you wake up in the morning for?

Note:

Never ever again, take medicine to sleep. Seriously, today was one of those BAD days.
I hate being moody and stressed, I get annoyed very easily. :(
BUT, I am still a good student and finished -some- of my homeworks for this week! YEEEEYYYY
See? It was worth staying in the iLab during lunch time. Also, I made a big effort to come home right after my lessons.
Im still *dreaming* about Costa's hot chocolate with whipped cream, though.
Saving money and time. Lessons here.

Homework status:
Maths - DONE
Biology experiment report - DONE
Business&management quiz - DONE
English research - DONE. Heheheheh not done yet.

P.s.: got some stuff to decorate my scrapbook! I am so excited to start writing on it!
P.s.: last Friday I went to the Harbour to take some pictures. I officially have a new addiction: photography. Plus, I need to catch up with my CAS hours. I have to say, I am very proud of myself. Thinking about selling the pictures to the Torbay Council or something. Hahahah

Pain. Is it real?

Ignorem esse post. Coisas da escola!

IB - Theory of Knowledge

- When pain is mentioned, we always think about broken bones, cuts, burned fingers etc. Something that reminds us of a bad or uncomfortable feeling. However, is this feeling real? Can it be created by our own minds? What about emotions? Can we forget painful moments? Let's think about it.

- I would like to start with my own experience. A few years ago, I had a surgery on my feet. The facts: I was frightened, scared, freezing. All emotional feelings. What I felt: pain. As I just had a local anesthetic, I could feel THE anesthetic. The most intense pain I've ever felt in my life.
- In December last year, I had the same surgery. But now, my interest in Medicine and surgeries is what scares me. I was looking forward to go to the hospital and see the doctors again, the O.R., the equipments... When they called me, I just said "By, mom! By dad!" and they were staring at me like who say "Do I know her?". I asked the Anesthesist to give me some sedative before the local anesthetic because I knew it would hurt. 2 seconds later I fell asleep. During the surgery, I went crazy and started speaking English with the doctor and the nurses. I don't really remember what happened, just a few words like "Am I speaking English?" "Oh, ok, sorry. I CANNOT SPEAK PORTUGUESE ANYMORE!", but that's not the point. Two days later, I went to my doctor's office and he said:
- Paula, you were in a lot of pain!
- No! I didn't feel anything this time, because of the sedative.
- Of course you did! You were screaming!
- Hmm.. how?
- You could feel the pain, you just don't remember!
Actually, IV (Intravenous Sedative) doesn't put you to sleep. You remain conscious during IV sedation. You will also be able to understand and respond to requests from your doctor. However, you may not remember much about what went on because of two factors: firstly, in most people, IV sedation induces a state of deep relaxation and a feeling of not being bothered by what's going on. Secondly, the drugs used for IV sedation can produce either partial or full memory loss (amnesia) for the period of time when the drug first kicks in until it wears off. As a result, time will appear to pass very quickly and you will not recall much, or perhaps even nothing at all, of what happened. So it may, indeed, appear as if you were "asleep" during the procedure.
Not that it will interest you, but the sedative used on me is called Propofol. The same used by Michael Jackson just before his death.

- Emotional pain X physical pain;
- "Pain caused by emotional distress is more deeply felt and longer lasting than that caused by physical injuries, according to a new study."
- Psychologists are using the old saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" to discover how people get over emotional or physical pain.
The researchers asked participants to relive their past painful experiences by writing in detail what had happened and how they had felt. Comparing the results, they discovered that both types of pain can hurt very much at the time they occur, but social pain has the unique ability to come back over and over again, while physical pain comes and goes, at one time painful.

- People literally feel pain of others.
- A brain anomaly can make the saying "I know how you feel" literally true in hyper-empathetic people who actually sense that they are being touched when they witness others being touched. This condition is known as mirror-touch synesthesia. Some people experience touch on their own body when they merely watch someone else being stroked or punched. We often flinch when we see someone knock their arm.

- EFT (emotional freedom techniques)
- Kelly Meisak: "Stress actually comes from emotions; as we experience a vast array of circumstances, we feel emotions accordingly. However, in holding negative emotions within the body we cause disruptions in our natural energy field, and these disruptions then cause physical pain and illness as the energy is unable to flow freely as it naturally would. Never before had such a prominent emotional contributor been so apparent to me in relation to a physical ailment within the body. Notice how the subconscious begins with something seemingly insignificant, and gently unfolds its protection to reveal the layers underneath."

Some people feel pain, some others don't. Are we able to control it? What are you feeling? Is it real pain or it came from your emotions? Does pain really exist?

"Maybe we like the pain...

(...) Maybe we're wired that way. Because without it, I don't know; maybe we just wouldn't feel real. What's that saying? Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop."

TOK presentation coming soon...