Attitude Matters

A positive attitude gives you confidence and increases your energy. No one knows that better than Lee Ann G. Lee Ann is one of my favorite teachers. What sets her apart is a very simple rule that she lives by. “I choose to believe.”  No matter what is going on she chooses to believe the best and most optimistic thing about a situation or a person. Having a positive attitude is a deliberate choice she makes because she wants to be happy. Sounds simple doesn't it? It is simple. It works like this; your thoughts create your feelings, so if you want to feel differently, think differently. The first step to having a positive attitude is paying attention to what’s in your mind. The second step is to change your thinking. Lee Ann does it by saying, “I choose to believe.”  What we do is important, so think good thoughts and say good things. You’re worth it. And remember, what you put in your mind comes out in your life.

                                                    You will change a child's life today, thank you.

                                                               Link of the Week

Simple Ways to Handle Change Better

   Shakespeare said, “There is nothing either good or    bad, but thinking makes it so.”Nothing stays the same for very long, especially in education, especially now.   Change can be a challenge for some people,but it doesn't have to be.  Here are 5 simple things you can do to make change easier.

1.      Recognize the difference between a fact and an opinion and stick to the facts. “The new curriculum is hard,” is an opinion that triggers a negative emotion which  causes stress. Do you really need any more stress? “We have a new curriculum,” is a fact that is not colored by emotion.

2.      Practice nonresistance. Resistance will not change what is. It will, however make you anxious and worried. When you feel yourself resisting what is being presented to you take a three, deep conscious breaths, and say, “Ok,” three times.

3.      Live in the moment.  When you worry you are living in the future. When you want to do what you always did you are living in the past. Now is the only moment that matters. When you find your mind drifting away from right now pull it back by paying close attention to your hands. Notice every detail about them then breath.

4.      Practice positive self talk.  Pay attention to your thoughts and reframe the negative thoughts.  Whose life is it anyway, yours or your mind’s?

5.      Give yourself permission to a. not know it all and b. make mistakes. 

                     Today you will make a difference in a child’s life, thank you.

                                                   Link of the week