Blind Side Essay

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four stages and do not try to reach the last stage.

Michael seemed to have reached all stages of the hierarchy with the Tuohy’s help. He found everything that he needed with the family that took him in and showed him that they cared about him and that he was worth caring about. Allport’s trait theory of personality puts an emphasis on how each person is unique. He also suggests that a person’s personality is determined at birth and is also determined by their environmental experiences (McLeod, 2014). Adler’s theory of individual psychology suggests that a person wants to maintain control over their own lives (Fisher, 2001). Michael did have control over his own life. He may not have had a lot, but he maintained his composure. He never let his environment control him. He never did drugs, drank, joined a gang, or let people in his environmental surroundings influence him to become something that he did not want to be. He always remained himself.

Michael went through so much trauma in his years after being taken from his mother and the separation from his siblings he was lost, had low self-esteem, and did not know what it felt like to have a true family. The Tuohy’s raised Michael and showed him what kind of life he deserved to have. He flourished under their care and made himself a great life. He finally understood what is was to have the love of a mother and a father. He never knew his father that well due to him being killed when Michael was younger so he never had a father to show him what is was to become a man and to go for his goals. Leigh Anne cared for Michael and even though it was hard for her to cry in front of him when she was sad she loved Michael as her own and he grew up to be her son even though she did not give birth to him.

People deserve to be happy in life. Happiness and love may come from a perfect stranger, but just someone showing compassion, caring, and love to a person that has never had either makes a big difference. Michael Oher came from the projects with a drug addict for a mother and not having a father figure in his life. He is now a famous NFL football player. He went to college got a good education and became part of a family just because he crossed paths with the right person that did not care what his color was or how big of a person he was. He was not intimidating to Leigh Anne and soon he knew why. She was a woman that knew what was right and could see potential in others. She saw a kid that was lost and her heart went out to him and soon he was as much a part of her family as her own biological children.

One little show of concern helped a young man become something amazing. Michael Oher’s story is a true and it shows how a person makes a difference by not sticking their nose up in the air and ignoring someone that may need help. Everyone can do exactly what Leigh Anne did. It does not take much it just takes a moment and a heart for others. The Blind side made a big impact on me. I strive to treat others with respect and to treat them the way that I would want to be treated. Taking a moment to see others and not overlooking them may make the difference between just reaching stage three of Maslow’s hierarchy to meeting the final stage or helping someone reach that final stage of self-actualization.

References

Fisher, M. (2001). Alfred Adler. Retrieved from http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/adler.htm

McLeod, S. (2014). SimplyPsychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

McLeod, S. (2014). Theories of Personality. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/personality-theories.html