Before you resolve to start an endeavor (or stop a bad habit), you may want to take time to reflect, first.
“Pain + Reflection = Progress (Ray Dalio)”
What worked for you this year? What didn’t? What did you do fantastically well? What could you have improved? What pains did you endure and what did they teach you?
Goals and resolutions are like seeds. Under proper care, they will germinate.
the riches we all strove for were the inner lights we could possess? What if we all wanted to be rich this way and helped each other attain this wealth?
The great news is that we have the option – the freedom – to choose what wealth is for ourselves. Possessing ambition is fine, but without inner peace, it means nothing.
Rich – adj., abounding in natural resources (Dictionary.com)
The idea for this blog was inspired by Light Watkin’s post on true wealth.
I assigned my 5th graders Powerpoint presentations on the early settlers (New England, Middle Colony, Southern Colony) and the rubric included a MAXIMUM of 5 words per slide.
“Ideally, you will choose an image that represents your topic for the slide – consider a primary source, such as a drawing – and then add key words that will remind you of the content for that slide,” I instructed.
“Five words? Only five words?” They asked.
“Yes. Key words to remind you of what to say.”
Because who wants to read paragraphs on a slide?
They went to work, buzzing like angry bees. This would require them to know the material very well.
The kids had a major cow over this.
But they delivered expertly!
In the desert, I
run into a spiderweb
bewitched by beauty
Fear (or terror) is the root of all anger.
Do you get angry often? Want to change but don’t know how? Try the five “whys.” Ramit Sethi recommends asking yourself “why” five times to get to the root of procrastination, but I think it can help identify all types of suffering.
Example:
When I drive, I get angry with drivers who are slow and get in my way.
Why?
Because I’m tired and I just want to get home.
Why?
Because my clients were terrible and I want to relax.
Why?
So I can feel good and forget about the day.
Why?
It was a hard day because I don’t feel good about how I handled one of my meetings. I’m afraid I didn’t seal the deal (or impress the boss, or look good to others, etc.)
Why?
Because I didn’t prepare well enough… I went to bed too late last night….I wasn’t at the top of my game…I don’t like my job…
By the fifth why, you usually get to the real root of the problem. It’s not the traffic, but your fears that drive your anger.
Painful events and relationships are lessons to us. Life is a persistent teacher and homework will keep coming until you’ve passed the test.
A young woman got married at the age of eighteen (like her mother had and her grandmother and all the other women in her family before her). She had five kids in quick succession. “And when the oldest child was ten, and the youngest was three months old, this woman’s husband left her.” (E. Gilbert)
To make a long story short, her heart was broken and she cried in despair. But then – that very day that she realized her husband was not coming back – she decided that the vision of her being poor and pathetic for the rest of her life was not to be. She was going to see the world someday.
The woman decided to save $1 every single day. It was not to be touched under any circumstances. This was her promise to herself. It was not emergency money.
She saved $1 every day for twenty years, filling many coffee cans.
And when the last child left the house, she went on a cargo ship (it was the least expensive way to cruise around the world). It stopped every few days and she’d disembark and see a new country.
This is the story the woman told Elizabeth Gilbert at one of her readings.
Clearly, we can decide to take fate into our own hands.
We can make our dreams come true. It might take longer than we’d like, but it can be realized.
As a teacher, I have many different types of students:
talented, but not diligent,
talented and diligent, and
not naturally so talented, but diligent
I do not have any untalented and non-diligent students.
It is the diligent students who meet the most success. There really is no substitute for hard work, self-discipline and care. With facts and “knowledge” readily available at our fingertips (Internet), it is not “knowing data” that will lead to success, but knowing how to use that data and knowing how to interact with people that will lead to achievement.
Grit is proven day by day, hour by hour, and on a consistent basis.
What will you be dedicated to – every day – in 2018?
Went for a run again last night with William. It was much colder than it has been, but we didn’t back down. We also ran during sunset and not in the dark. It was beautiful and I was (am!) grateful for this connection with my husband and nature.
As we approach the new year, I’m reflecting on this past year. It was pretty awesome. One thing I’d like to have more of is outdoor time as a family: more hiking and less technology. (Technology is great, don’t get me wrong, but using it most of one’s waking hours is not necessary).
“Happiness is a choice.”
-Shawn Anchor
Three ways to become a happier person:
Anchor strongly believes that you must take responsibility for your well-being and contentment in life. Of course, clinical depression is a real thing. You may need medication, but the medication should be a stepping stone to getting yourself in a state where you can actively work to be happy.
I am one of those people who need to exercise. If I don’t workout regularly, I feel sluggish in every way: physically, mentally and emotionally.
Listening to Shawn Anchor (happiness researcher, author and speaker), I realized a great truth in something he said: Exercise is important, because it provides proof for ourselves that working hard will give us results.
“15 minutes of cardiovascular exercise a day. It’s the equivalent of taking an anti-depressant for the first six months, but with a 30 percent lower relapse rate over the next two years.” (Washington Post)
15 minutes! Just 15. You can do this! Make a plan. Anything cardiovascular: a jog, jumping rope or trampoline, bicycling, rollerskating (my favorite)…get out there and get moving!
Source: Washington Post article
Kismet 