The Moral Bucket List

Reflection Paper
Prepared by Mary Jocel H. Duero | HUMSS F- JAMES
 The article left engraved in my mind and heart the lines: “In the realm of the intellect, a
person of character has achieved a settled philosophy about fundamental things. In the realm of
emotion, she is embedded in a web of unconditional loves. In the realm of action, she is
committed to tasks that can’t be completed in a single lifetime.” The lines perfectly captured the
characteristics of a person whom I want to be. They inspired a sequence of realizations that led to
a change of heart and of ambition.
It started with the revelation that most people are focused on obtaining external
achievements rather than brightening our inner glow. We are more inclined to developing skills
that are instrumental to our career (résumé virtues) rather than honing the qualities of ourselves
that will be remembered long after we have left the world (eulogy virtues). As an effect, we feel
emptiness that equates to our failure to acquire the needed skills for inner character, even after
gaining all our worldly desires.
This claim holds a lot of truth based off of my experiences. Before the start of the
academic year, I challenged myself to get the highest honor. I believed that aiming for that goal
will push me to reach my full potential. Because of my extreme desire to reinvent myself, I was
eventually able to be at the top of my class. I was extremely grateful and elated that all my hard
work paid off. But gradually, the ecstasy from my academic success wore off and I was left still
feeling stagnant. Soon, that temporary satisfaction will make me realize that I may be working
towards the wrong path.
However, I do believe that my journey towards the aforementioned goal is comprised
with lessons that are reflected within the article. First, I was committed to improving myself and
to being self-aware of my toxic patterns and weaknesses. Next, I am consciously making steps
toward personal growth such as instilling courage to face judgment from standing up for what I
believe in like what George Eliot did for her love for George Lewes. Lastly, I have learned to
believe that after tears comes laughter and while I’m going through suffering or sadness, I may
as well direct my negative energy to journaling and making art because through these activities, I
unravel so much about myself; just as Paul Tillich said that “suffering introduces you to yourself
and reminds you that you are not the person you thought you were”. Although these self-
discoveries were made for the wrong ambitions, they will be great power-up’s for my next
journey.
Having read this article, I now know what needs fixing within myself ranging from being
vulnerable, to making connections and commitments, to loving selflessly, and to finally changing
my goal. Vulnerability has always been hard for me because of my fear of judgment thus,
preventing me from confronting my weaknesses regardless of my awareness of them. Making
connections and commitments is particularly challenging because of my fear of uncertainty and
my natural sense of independence and apathy. I have not loved selflessly because I am partially
distrustful of the people around me. Last of all, I haven’t changed my goal because it is what I
was comfortable with. My awareness about the roots of my inner flaws— which is simply fear—
is an important tool to overcoming them.
Ultimately, the lessons about being a ‘stumbler’ led me to a more introspective mission:
to be better than what I used to be, NOT be better than everyone else. This new direction shall
hopefully guide me towards becoming the person characterized in my favorite part of the article.

Discussion on Patterns of Development Used

There are four (4) patterns of development used in the text. Let us break it down through
paragraphs. In the first paragraph, no particular pattern of development was used for its sole
purpose is to state the central idea of the text. In the second paragraph, the cause and effect
pattern was used to show the relationship of our achievements and moral contentment, thus, the
use of the discourse marker ‘in effect’. Moving on to the third paragraph, the narration pattern
was used to tell the story of my personal experience, thus, the use of discourse markers like
‘before’, ‘eventually’, ‘gradually’, and ‘soon’. In the fourth paragraph, there was a mix of the
contrast pattern and exemplification pattern; the first and last sentence showed opposing ideas
with the use of ‘however’ and ‘although’; meanwhile, the rest of the paragraph enumerated the
examples of discoveries I made with the use of ‘first’, ‘next’ and ‘lastly’. In the fifth paragraph, it
used the cause and effect pattern again, with the effect-to-cause format and used the discourse
marker ‘because’ repeatedly. Finally, in the last paragraph, the discourse marker ‘ultimately’ was
used for concluding which shows the narration pattern.