Topic Outline

I. Illness as a positive circumstance A. Common perception of illness B. Positive effects of illness on the person (aspects) II. Scope of benefits from a period of illness A. Corporal/Bodily effects B. Interior implications 1. Growth in virtue (1) Spirit of sacrifice (2) Strength of character (3) Hope 2. Spiritual growth C. Societal influence III. Summing up and recommendations A. Desirable attitude towards illness B. Lastingness of gains from illness

On Suffering an Illness

An illness is commonly viewed as an unfortunate situation. People who fall ill are generally to be pitied since they have been, as of the moment, impaired. Being a defect, it is regarded by many as something of pure negativity. True, an illness is a disorder in the bodyhowever that which can also contribute to the persons well-being. Incidentally, this scope of positive effects ranges from those that concern the body, as well as that which occurs within: A person who is sick is in such a position due to many factors, be it the unhealthy environment, a microbial attack, system malfunction, or one of many others. In any case, the human body starts to weaken, giving in to the sickness. But the body, being given a period of rest and recovery, eventually starts to fight back also, until it has fully rid itself of this condition. And in order that it may not strike back, defenses are set up against this disease-causing agent, building up stronger resistance to it. This heightened immunity is one favor done the patient by the condition. As a matter of fact, being intelligent beings, people will come to realize the source of this dis-ease, and hence would strive to keep away from it. These helps will come to be useful in sidestepping more serious afflictions the person may stumble upon in the future. Aside from such corporal boons, a period of illness brings about interior implications in the person as well. During this period, virtue is slowly being built up: For one, a person who suffers illness can very well treat it with a spirit of sacrifice; especially when borne patiently, and even cheerfully, his will be but a little sacrifice, but that which can actually serve to even inspire others. Also, as the patient perseveres in his illness, he will be growing in strength of character

And consequently, all these virtues lead up to an exceedingly greater aspect of development: spiritual growth. With the illness the person is opt not to rely as much on himself, so instead his hopes are fixed on God. He is moved to acknowledge this help from above the natural order, more so in dire cases when all hope seems to be lost. This recognition of dependence on Him is the single most profound effect that the patient may experience, and that which enables him to grow even more in the virtue he has acquired. With the renewed faith he has come to find in himself, he would be more disposed towards facing squarely the illness that afflicts him, and as well all other ordeals that he may come across henceforward. And stemming from all this remarkable personal improvement is the influence which it extends to the community. Such episodes of struggle, no matter how small, may serve to stir even other people as well, thereby making an impact on society itself. The way the person looks at things, full of meaning and hope, may even be able to radiate itself into the hearts of others. The patient motivates those who, like him, are burdened much by their affliction. Such a period of suffering and illness, then, can likewise be an opportunity to inspire othersby means of this very circumstance being able to touch their lives, which otherwise would have been out of reach. Illness, therefore, is not necessarily useless and a curse. What useless curse would there be that has all these as reward? To those who endure are these things very much in store. And it is worth noting once more that whatever illness that is suffered, to whatever degree it may be, will not be as such for

An illness is commonly viewed as an unfortunate situation. People who fall ill are generally to be pitied since they have been, as of the moment, impaired. Being a defect, it is regarded by many as something of pure negativity. True, an illness is a disorder in the bodyhowever that which can also contribute to the persons well-being. Incidentally, this scope of positive effects ranges from those that concern the body, as well as to that which occurs within:

A person who is sick is in such a position due to many factors, be it the unhealthy environment, a microbial attack, system malfunction, or one of many others. In any case, the human body starts to weaken, giving in to the sickness. But the body, being given a period of rest and recovery, eventually starts to fight back also, until it has fully rid itself of this condition. And in order that it may not strike back, defenses are set up against this disease-causing agent, building up stronger resistance to it. This heightened immunity is one favor done the patient by the condition. As a matter of fact, being intelligent beings, people will come to realize the source of this dis-ease, and hence would strive to keep away from it.

Aside from such corporal boons, a period of illness brings about interior implications in the person as well. During this period, virtue is slowly being built up: For one, a person who suffers illness can very well treat it with a spirit of sacrifice; especially when borne patiently, and even cheerfully, his will be but a little sacrifice, but that which can actually serve to even inspire others. Also, as the patient perseveres in his illness, he will be growing in strength of characteras muscles exercise to grow strong so does the will of a person, and thus he who endures grows stronger accordingly. Last to mention is the virtue of hope. Along with the illness that is braved, however serious, comes

And consequently, all these virtues lead up to an exceedingly greater aspect of development: spiritual growth. With the illness the person is opt not to rely as much on himself, so instead his hopes are fixed on God. He is moved to acknowledge this help from above the natural order, more so in dire cases when all hope seems to be lost. This recognition of dependence on Him is the single most profound effect that the patient may experience, and that which enables him to grow even more in the virtue he has acquired. With the renewed faith he has come to find in himself, he would be more disposed towards facing squarely the illness that afflicts him, and as

And stemming from all this remarkable personal improvement is the influence which it extends to the community. Such episodes of struggle, no matter how small, may serve to stir even other people as well, thereby making an impact on society itself. The way the person looks at things, full of meaning and hope, may even be able to radiate itself into the hearts of others. The patient motivates those who, like him, are burdened much by their affliction. Such a period of suffering and illness, then, can likewise be an opportunity to inspire othersby means of this very circumstance being able to touch their lives, which otherwise would have

Illness, therefore, is not necessarily useless and a curse. What useless curse would there be that has all these as reward? To those who endure are these things very much in store. And it is worth noting once more that whatever illness that is suffered, to whatever degree it may be, will not be as such for long. And in light of all that is offered as recompense, it would certainly be very good to keep in mind, that the only truly important things to be gained, are the ones that surely do last.

Rhetorical Patterns used:

Par 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 1. Description Cause-effect Analysis Classification Cause-effect Comparison-contrast

My

Reflective Essay

When I would be writing an essay before, the strategy and methods I would usually employ might be considered rather CRUDE as compared to the works of others, especially those who undergo further training apart from what is being taught in school. But however crude my system may be, I have found it quite to my liking and it worked relatively well for me for the past years, except that it seemed to be somewhat TIME-CONSUMING and ate up huge chunks of my time, including sleeping hours. Perhaps it had something to do with the ABSENCE OF AN OUTLINE in my writing, since the only outline I had worked with was the one just in my head, which is of course very prone to forgetting, and thus delays as well. Slowly and carefully also would I think of points to include in my essay, and then try to weave them together in my mind. And all this is in conformity to the conditions set by our teacher. Also I had followed the INTRODUCTION-BODY-CONCLUSION FORMAT: five, ten, and five sentences for the three paragraphs respectively; but then I had tried to be more flexible, and consequently both the number of paragraphs and the sentences per paragraph varied according to the range of ideaswhich has been my style since. However, because there has not been a guide for my writing, the content was subject to little changes spontaneously during the course of development. Ideas may come in while some may be left out, and so

But now that I go through Englcom, there has been so much new information that has proved quite helpful to me. We were taught the proper way to make TOPIC OUTLINES, along with the principles governing outline construction; to formulate the topic sentence or THESIS STATEMENT, a new term I have been familiar with just recently; to construct an EXTENDED DEFINITION ESSAY, with details in accomplishing the ESSAY PARTS and PARAGRAPH PARTS; and to make use of RHETORICAL PATTERNS or patterns of paragraph development in writing the essay, among others. This sudden influx of so many interesting things wears me down a bit, occasionally into the night also, since I have to make gigantic leaps in adjusting and transitioning from my old methods. Generally, however, all this has been of much use to me. Now I am equipped with this knowledge to which I can refer whenever necessary. It standardizes my work and allows me to even assess my work afterwards, which I find a bit fun. Also, it helps me to keep back on track since I could always recall this knowledge and see if what I am writing adheres to the standards, which is very much important especially in academic writing. And by the fusion of the essence of my old practices and this new theoretical input from Englcom, I am