Post 1 : Addiction

How does an individual know that he or she is addicted to something, is it a choice or just an effect?  People and our general society do not acknowledge or comprehend that   a person does not choose to be addicted to any type of drug substance, food or even behavioral habits.   For instance,   the individual does not just wake up thinking “hey I will not be able to live without this substance, or without doing this routine there is more to it than just that.  In sense, it can be peer pressure that gets the person addicted or even some horrific tragedy that their trying to run away from that gets them into a daily routine of taking a drug. The reason for this is simple, to run away from reality and have a peace of mind.  These substances allow a false reality to take place. For instance, someone who is on cocaine will get a high feeling, for an hour or so that make he or she invisible to reality or its problems.  Since the person enjoyed the feeling of being high they feel as it will be “inevitable “for them to stop. What is the root of this effect, though? It can differ from anything from having a loved one die, or being an outcast of a group.

In my situation, however, it all started with college.  When I entered college, I decided to try alcohol. I thought drinking it would make me braver and stronger. I never could imagine occasional alcohol at parties or at friend’s house could really be a direct problem to my addiction.   It began with beer, but gradually switched to hard liquor and different kinds of alcoholic beverages. As time passed my drinking wasn’t just occasional. I realized this when I started to hit the bars and pubs 3 to 4 times a week, which led me to staying out late every night. The cause of this affected my schooling. I came to a point in my life where I was drinking from sunset to sunrise. The time came when I could not sleep without drinking alcohol.  Missing lectures, homework, and ignoring family phone calls became a routine to my madness.. All I found myself doing day and night was going out with friends getting drunk and waking up in afternoon with inferior hangover.  I basically made alcohol my first priority.  Alcohol at one point led me in a state of mind that even led me to quit college at one time. My family made me realize that this was a move that I will regret if I did not change, however I did not believe them.  I was in denial for about ½ year.  Once I realized this I became to panic and enrolled myself into a rehab group.   Even though I quit drinking, it still affected my daily life and the urges always came back. As time passed, quitting drinking became a positive effect in my life.   Alcohol abuse is not a choice, but is a temporally tunnel that lead the mind in another direction to forsake all memories, and depression.

Here’s a Motivation video (Hope you enjoy it): http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH9CHuwo_no

Wile Coyote

Wile Coyote has a deep motivation to eat Bug's Bunny. He is hunger for rabbit pushes him into his quest to make Bug's Bunny his dinner. Then when he isn't able to simply trick Bug's Bunny his motivation changes. He is now pulled into outsmarting Bug's Bunny, with the end game being dinner. Every time Bug's Bunny outsmarts Wile Coyotes genius plans, Wile is motivated more to outsmart Bug's then to eat him, though his motivation for outsmarting still ends with Wile eating him.      

Wile Coyote's anger makes it impossible to defeat Bug's Bunny. He becomes so determined to out smart him, it consumes him. This make's it even easier for Bug's Bunny to out smart Wile thus making Wile even more frustrated. Wile's frustration though making him more determined to win is actually detracting from him mental ability to think and process clearly. The cartoon always end's the same. Wile so consumed by hunger and frustration he loses his self control and his plans are more irrational with each new plan he creates. 

Addiction and Negative Reinforcement

In the addictions chapter I found it interesting that drugs addicts are motivated by both positive and negative reinforcement. The addict escapes or reduces negative affect that results from drug withdrawal. However, the anticipation of negative affect can motivate drug use as a case of avoidance behavior. An addict uses a drug in to order to prevent a negative affect(Deckers 94). People use drugs at first to obviously seek pleasure, but with every high there is also a low. A person addicted to a drug like heroin for example will build up a high tolerance the more they use it. They will no longer feel the euphoric high they experienced when their addiction first started. It is common to hear about someone who is addicted for a long time start to use drugs just to feel normal. When a person decides to quit heroin or doesn't get their fix they will experience an emotional and physically painful withdrawal process.

That doesn't look fun. Avoiding a harrowing withdrawal experience like the example in the film Trainspotting would obviously be a strong motivator for someone to continue their addiction. Drugs make a person feel good, high, and euphoric, which are positive reinforcers for their continued use(Deckers 93). It seems that addicts first start using to continue reinforcing the good feelings Deckers describes, but overtime time the spectrum flips itself. Instead of running towards the good feelings it seems that an addict's main concern is to run away from the withdrawal process.

Summer Post 1 - Just keep truckin' on

The other day while I was working, a co-worker asked me how my spring semester went.  After explaining to him that it went fast and well, I told him that I was taking an online may-mester.  He replied, “An online course?  How does one get motivated for an online course?”  “Ironically” I said, “I am taking motivational psychology.”  After a moment of laughter, I thought to myself, “How will I get motivated for my first summer class?”  I was so happy to be done with school, and after a short break I’d be thrown into a busy working summer mixed with more homework.  As aversive as that sounds, taking five courses next semester sounded worse.  Perhaps that was my motivation for taking a may-mester, but after reading this first chapter, I realized that avoiding a five class semester was my incentive.  I continued to think about my motivation for going to school.  What is moving me into action?  I had to think for a few days about this question, because I have to be honest, I would rather not be in school.  Yes, I do enjoy most of my classes, but why do I suffer through the stress of having to complete assignments, study for tests, deal with my procrastination, and commute three or four days a week?  I began to realize that there is a hierarchy of things and events that motivate me.  At the top of my motivational hierarchy is my daughter.  My daughter living a happy and healthy life is truly my overall motivation for all of my actions.  She motivates me to wake up and work or go to school, live a healthier life, and be a better person.

Before she was born, I was attending James Madison University and I failed my first assignments and tests in all of my classes.  This caught me off guard because I was distinguished honors in high school, and now I was failing everything I tried.  I put in a lot of study hours and skipped none of my classes, but there was a lack of motivation.  I did not like my classes or my major, and earning a degree was not a big enough incentive for me to do well.  However, after hearing the news of my future child, my motivation was born.  I came back to Jersey a new man, got a job and enrolled in the next semester at ACCC.  After 4 years of school, split between ACCC and Stockton, I have made the Dean’s List every semester.  I never changed my style of schooling, but I now had a reason and a motive to do well.  Motivation is a strong thing, strong enough to make the weak survive and the underdogs prevail, and it certainly gives life purpose.  If you have no motivation, you have no purpose.  

Motivation

Do you know someone or have ever met a someone who just doesn’t stop? They’re constantly going and doing something. A day where you would sit back, relax, and enjoy your day off, that person is organizing their closet or cleaning each corner of their house. There’s nothing wrong with being neurotic, I mean motivated, but where does it come from?

To be motivated means to be induced or moved into action or thought by either the push of a motive or the pull of an incentive. A motive is an internal disposition that pushes an individual toward some desired end, which is the incentive. I guess I internally motivate myself to continue to do certain things. Why do I go to school? Why do I strive for high grades? Going to school means graduating with a degree, my degree means getting a good job, a good job means making good money, and good money means I can have the nice things in life. Motivation is my reason for staying in school and my reason for staying in school is motivation. They both go hand in hand. Without motivation we would be worthless, or at least I would. Why even wake up in the morning, live life for that matter. We all have motivation whether we know it or not, it's just how far we push ourselves and the energy we put into the things we want that we can see it. 

Whatever you are, be a good one.- Abraham Lincoln

Now a days, many college students are taking a lot longer to graduate then the expected 4 years.  Its more common to go to graduate school after getting your bachelors, and it almost seems as though its weird if someone doesn’t go to graduate school afterward.  But it can be a tough road because of the pressure put on college students.  I know personally that when I was reading the textbook we have, in the first couple pages, I related so much to the push and pull of motivation.  No one is forcing me to go through school and take a full class load and stretch myself out, but I am because I am internally motivated to finish.  After being in college for a year and a half, I decided to change my major, which in return, pushed me back.  But, transferring from my county college also pushed me back a little bit more.  I still should have almost three years to go because of all of those reasons, but now I only have a year and a half and will be graduating with two bachelors, because of being that motivated.  I constantly sound like the little engine that could, repeating over and over again “I think I can, I think I can…”, but changing it to “I know I can, I know I can…”. 

"Once I'm done with kindergarten, I'm going to find me a wife." -Tom, 5 years old

My motivation also comes from being in the classroom.  All of the education program involves observations and fieldwork, which means that you are in the classroom observing and working with the children for a certain amount of hours.  Being in a classroom two to three times a week is defiantly a huge factor for me and probably my biggest motivation currently.  I am so ready to be able to teach children, and make a difference in many of their lives, that I take on all that I do, so I can get to my goal quicker.  I don’t let negative things that people say differ me from pursuing what I want to do with my life.

Post 1 summer

To be motivated means to be induced or moved into action or thought by either the push of a motive or the pull of an incentive (Deckers, 2010, p. 7). In summer of 2008 I started my education after my youngest child entered preschool. Of course being one of the oldest college students sitting in the front of the class all seemed a bit weird; however, I let nothing get in my way and my motivation continued to stay strong.  My personal motivational incentives include setting a prime example for my children that education is a must, being able to financially contribute to my family, and to prove a point to myself. I always told myself after high school I would never go back and, now, I will be graduating with my bachelor’s degree in psychology this July! Now for all the mothers and students, who read this, never say you can’t. I’m married with 3 beautiful children and I manage. I’m not saying that it is easy by any means, but my story is a prime example of how strong motivation can actually be. Maybe it comes with age, or maybe I know I have little ones to provide for and show examples to, but I do know one thing I wouldn’t be here today if I gave up!