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Contradicting Characteristics
"Perfection does not exist - you can always do better and you can always grow" (Les Brown). When one possesses problems there is always room for self-improvement because nobody is perfect. When one makes the decision to strive for excellence it can be a challenging goal to accomplish. The ideal is a conception of something in its perfection (Webster's Dictionary). Felix Acosta features many imperfections that need attention inorder to meet the ideal of honesty, courage, and kindness. As of now, Acosta is no way near the ideal as he displays dishonesty, cowardice, and unkindness throughout his life. With his current approach of life, it affects those around him and especially himself. If there is no attempt to improve his habits, he shall live with the guilt and shame. Felix Acosta should take the initiative to meet the ideal of honesty, courage, and kindness by being selfless, charitable, confident, open-minded, and considerate.
Acosta's lack of honesty contributes to the problem of affecting himself and others. The dishonesty that Acosta displays is mostly motivated by his greed or selfishness. During his middle school years, Acosta was a con artist. He played card games and sold compact discs and food to other students in turn for money. The act of selling items and gambling were against school policy, however, Acosta did not seem to care. Eventually, Acosta was caught and suffered the consequences. Acosta was untruthful to his fellow students by being selfish and greedy to earn a buck. This is seen as a problem that limits Acosta from the ideal because he lies to his peers by cheating them.
The cheating that Acosta pursues is for unnecessary satisfaction of wealth. Acosta would be able to avoid this situation if he adopted characteristics of being selfless and charitable. With developing the habits of selflessness and charity, Acosta's situation during middle school would be completely opposite. The establishment of unselfishness and giving contradicts the greed and selfishness for Acosta's dishonesty. For Acosta to acquire selflessness and charity he must follow a process. He must take time to evaluate his actions before he acts to cleanse his setbacks. Acosta must think about the motivation he has to for what he is going to do. By evaluating his actions based on the criteria of selflessness and charity Acosta can determine if his act is favored or opposed toward the ideal. Finally, he must arise with his decision that makes him closer to the ideal. Acosta must repeat this process over and over every time he has to tell the truth for it to become a habit. He can practice being honest on the simple things first, such as telling his parents where he actually going. By applying honesty to the little things, Acosta will get in the habit of being honest in general. Taking the route towards the ideal will bring him much closer to his goal, but taking the wrong route would hold him back. This proposal is a necessity for Acosta to be able to better himself towards the ideal.
For Acosta to meet the ideal, the strengthening of his courage is essential. Acosta possesses fears of what others think. He often hesitates to do actions because of what society might view him. When creating ideas he usually does not like to share because he doubts himself that his ideas are dull or incorrect. Acosta's deficient courage affects mostly himself. Not taking risks because of what others have to say restricts him. Acosta's lack of courage is due to the shyness and narrow-mindedness he has. For Acosta to overcome this problem he needs to be confident and open-minded. The uncertainty to whether or not to speak results with Acosta's lost of opportunity to meet the ideal.
Although Acosta misses opportunities to better himself, there is still time to redeem himself with confidence and open-mindedness. In order for Acosta to overcome his fears of sharing his ideas, he must be willing to take risks. By taking risks he is able to adapt himself by consistently doing what Acosta fears. Thus, it must involve Acosta not passing up any opportunity to express himself. When it is time in class to share ideas Acosta must try volunteer first instead of waiting for the instructor to call on him. When Acosta expresses himself he must do it with confidence and open-mindedness by speaking out loud, standing tall, and not thinking how others view him. Acosta must not think because if he thinks too long, he will not act on his thoughts. Again, developing skills takes practices. Acosta must repeat these steps to make over coming his fears second nature. With these two characteristics, Acosta's fears of expressing his ideas are eliminated. By having these qualities Acosta would be able to speak and share his mind without fear. If Acosta strives to become more courageous, he must be confident and open-minded towards life.
Being kind is something Acosta has exceeded throughout his life; however, he often expresses his rudeness to others on days he feels horrible. A clear example was when Acosta was heading to his class and was approached by his fellow classmate to know how was Acosta's weekend. Instead of starting a conversation, Acosta continued heading to class by completely ignoring his classmate, as he was a ghost. This is an issue for Acosta and others because the treatment he gives to others is unacceptable when they try to be friendly. In order for Acosta to meet the ideal of kindness, he must accept the quality of consideration. The disrespect that Acosta exhibits is a problem because it harms others emotions.
Before worrying about how Acosta feels, he must be considerate. When Acosta encounters people who want to start a conversation or give a simple greeting Acosta should be understanding. By changing his point of view to others Acosta can realize how he hurts other if he stops to think before he acts. But the most important piece of advice for Acosta to follow is to treat others, as one would like to be treated. By Acosta living to that golden rule he will adopt the quality of consideration. To live by that rule Acosta can start by being happy. He must fill his mind with positive thoughts to raise his self-esteem. Acosta should start small by complimenting others by saying, "Oh, I love your shirt." or, "Your shoes are awesome." If someone compliments Acosta, he should say thanks and continue what he was doing or compliment them in return. A way Acosta can make kindness a habit is to try every once in a while to volunteer to help at a hospital or children center. With consideration towards others Acosta is able to at least greet others when feeling down. By being considerate, Acosta is aware of others' emotions and not being a jerk to those around him. Thus, by Acosta developing the habit of consideration, it shall bring him towards meeting the ideal.
In society nobody is perfect. It is nearly impossible to be perfect, as all contain at least a single problem. There is always room for improvement to meet the ideal of honesty, courage, and kindness. Although the climb to achieve one's goals to become the ideal is steep, it is worth every step. As others in society, Felix Acosta possesses issues, such as dishonesty, cowardice, and unkindness that confine him from meeting the ideal. But with the dedication to adopt qualities of selflessness, charity, confidence, open-mindedness, and consideration Acosta is able to attain status of the ideal self. With Acosta's achievement of meeting the ideal, this shall affect those around him by providing a fantastic world.
So, let's look at the main points you make:
"Perfection does not exist - you can always do better and you can always grow" (Les Brown). [. . .] Felix Acosta should take the initiative to meet the ideal of honesty, courage, and kindness by being selfless, charitable, confident, open-minded, and considerate.
And at the end:
In society nobody is perfect. [. . .] With Acosta's achievement of meeting the ideal, this shall affect those around him by providing a fantastic world.
I think it would be good to re-word the intro sentence to make it match that conclusion perfectly, and use the conclusion to expand on the thesis. Your writing style is excellent.
