Compliments - Wananga

This week, which is week 2, we've been discussing friendships/relationships with other people. We discuss the segments, these segments conclude, your relationship with your family or your whanau, your friends and your boyfriend/girlfriend. It was mostly based on the friendships we have at school. Talking about friendships, we scrutinized the things that we do for our friends and what they do for us. We were asked what we want in a friend. For me, the characteristic I want in a friend is someone who understands me and respects me, that's probably the important thing that I want in a friend. Today's generation, having good friends is hard to find, there have been friendships that have torn apart because of the lack of communication, respect and understanding. Some friendships also end because of a "boy. I think that friends shouldn't fight over a boy because friendship is more important than some boy. Like boyfriends and girlfriends, you also have to be committed to your friendship, treating your friends like your family. 

We were also asked what we want to improve on ourselves for our friend, things that we want to do for a friend. I really thought about it because I know there are times that I wasn't a good friend and I want to improve on that. I was thinking of something that could help my friends and also help me since we're just in middle school and we're still young and we have a long way to go. I wanted to be someone who can help my friends grow, yes, I'm growing too but to be able to grow with your friends is a different kind of happiness. Seeing your friends grow and knowing that you've helped them to become mature and a better person gives you a euphoric feeling. 

I also want to improve on making my friend happier, my friends have been through a lot of challenges in their life and I'm sure that there are more challenges and battles that they're going through once we get older. So, while still in the process of growing up, I want to make good memories with them and give them the happiness that they deserve. 

We were given a paper with a border on it, we were allowed to decorate it, colour it, draw some images on it. I drew an image of me and put colours on it and some sketches. 

After decorating the paper, each of us wrote compliments outside the border. We can't write surface compliments because it's only looking at the appearance of the person, the outside. The compliments that we had to write about is about the inside of the person, their personality. 

I was pretty surprised by how much compliments I got, I didn't know people noticed a particular thing about me. I'm thankful because my hard work has been noticed, my personality has been noticed, the things I've done for other people has been noticed and I feel appreciated because there are still people out there who still care about one's personality. 

There are a lot of thoughtful words written on my paper.  

"You have a genuine smile, thank you for being a supportive and good friend"  It made me smile and happy because I didn't know they noticed my smile, I hardly smile to other people. I didn't know that I was a good friend to others and supportive. 

"You have shown me support in the tough times" I didn't know that I was a student that actually helped my teacher and supported her through tough times. 

"You always listen to us when we're having a bad time. Thank you for being my friend" I didn't know that she was thankful for me being her friend, I'm thankful also because I got to help my friends through hard times. 

This is my paper that has been filled with compliments.