Affirmations

This morning, I needed a bit of encouragement to get my day going.  So, I dressed in my favorite super hero tee:  Wonder Woman of course. Actually, its my only super hero clothing, purchased for “Super Hero Day” during Red Ribbon Week a few years ago.  Elementary schools are notorious for dress up days, and staff lead the pack when it comes to embracing the costumes.  Thus, I own this tee. Why do we like super heroes?  I have fond memories of those childhood Saturday morning cartoons.  As a child, I was especially impressed by Aquaman.  I mean, how cool would it be if we could talk to and develop relationships with wild animals?  I personally would choose bears as my wild friends, but sea creatures are pretty awesome too.  This doesn’t answer the question though.  So, I ask again, why do we like super heroes? I think that the idea that there is someone out there who fights for good, intervenes on our behalf (especially for the really rou...

My previous blog went out with a message stating my goal of five posts this week.  This is, quite noticeably, only my second.  Sometimes life is like that:  We envision one reality but life brings us another.   I used to struggle with situations like this.  I would mentally beat myself up for not meeting my self-imposed goal.  I would berate myself with comments like “others were counting on you” and “wow, couldn’t even type a few paragraphs?  Why were you so lazy today?”  None of those comments served me well.  All they did was make me feel worse for my perceived limitations. It took a lot of work for me to change my inner voice to one of love and acceptance.  I am thankful for people around me that have listened and supported me as I’ve grown.  I was reluctant at first.  I told myself the same things you might say when others attempt, unsuccessfully, to bolster you up through hard times.  Things like:  “They don’t u...

In years past, I was often of the mindset that a task must be completed, start to finish, in one setting.  Can you say ‘Overachiever?’  I craved the satisfaction of a job well done, although the face-it-all-at-once attitude often made the tasks onerous rather than enjoyable. I still love the feeling I get after a job is finished.  Nowadays, though, I face those with a different mindset.  I am much more likely to break a task down into several steps or components.  I focus on completing those, one at a time, over many hours or even days.  This decreases my stress and anxiety in ways that my old system was unable to do.  We often caution young children to “take small bites” when they want to rush through their meal or snack.  Why? Because we are aware of the potential for choking.  I encourage you to use the same strategy when faced with a daunting project, assignment, or activity.  Take your time and focus on one component at a time. ...

First off, a plea for forgiveness:  I have not written consistently in the past few weeks.  Some mornings that was due to me just not feeling great, but there were other reasons as well.  When I began writing “affirmations,” they were simply a quick text message that I sent out to “my” young people:  my children and some other young people who were friends and extended family. The early texts merely sought to offer a bit of morning encouragement.  We all know that life can be daunting sometimes.  Young people are still finding their way through the chaos and I wanted to help lift them up each morning. Somehow, the number of people reading the texts grew and it was suggested that I switch to the blog format.  this was great fun for me.  I had a larger audience and the blog allowed me to write much more than I could in a text.  I’m sure that I was excessively “wordy” sometimes and for that I ask your forgiveness.  I bet those won’t be my o...