Journal Six

 Zach Sudal

Professor Lohre

English 1109 M-W

21st October, 2020

Tres Takeaways

Looking back on One and Done Clarett provides us with many takeaways. The first takeaway that intrigued me was "You can't be changed if you don't want to/ mentality." Throughout the book we see Clarett go on a roller coaster. When things go right, suddenly they go wrong, vice versa. Clarett has a hard time figuring this out because he just doesn't have an open mind. Going off track a bit, over time we see that Clarett doesn't want change his life until he has to for the better. This leads back to "someone won't change their life unless they're open to it." In the book he allows his elephant to be talked to by Ashley because he knows it is unfair to her, and that reason is finally good enough for him to change because she matters. 

Secondly, another takeaway from Clarett is "how hard can you get hit and keep going." This challenge and takeaway is very relatable because we see this a lot in our own life's as well as others. Ashley sees this as well. Clarett explains, "a person came into her life and wrecked it right after she graduated. For a large part, I derailed her plans of one day going to get a job in corporate America and starting her path after 4 years of college" (Clarett, 198.) Obviously we have seen Clarett get hit many times, and struggling throughout the book to keep going. He copes with drugs and alcohol, which just destroys him. At the end when he goes to jail he finally picks himself up instead of getting hit and crawling to keep going.

The biggest takeaway I got from the Bob and Maurice zoom call was one quote Mr. Eckhart said. He said a quote that stuck out to me, which was, "It's better to go out swinging with a dull sword rather than sitting inside with a sharp one." I liked this quote a lot because a lot of my friends do this. One example I remember from a friend was a question I asked him. I asked him why he wouldn't pick up girls or talk to him. He said he could if he wanted to; I kind of doubted that, but it brought me back to the Mr. Eckhart quote. 

Why is the lion the king of the jungle? He's not the fastest, the smartest, or the strongest.. It's because of his mentality. Clarett firmly believes that mentality is everything, and pushes that message on us throughout the story. Before I read this book I believed that mentality was everything too.