Tag: positive

You are good.
kids · parenting · wisdom

You are good.

Essentially Better LivingLeave a comment

Last school year, when my youngest daughter was in kindergarten, she had homework to write three “I am” sentences. Three sentences that began with “I am” that were true about herself. As I was going through some of her old papers this week, I came across this homework paper again.

Her first sentence brought tears to my eyes:

I AM A GOOD PERSON.

I echoed back to her, “You sure are a good person.”

Don’t we all need to hear that? And to know that is powerful.

But the truth is we all have times in our life when we question our goodness. We feel less than. We allow the words or perspectives of others taint our self-image, or we let our disappointment in our own thoughts, words or actions affect how we view ourselves. The Eleanor Roosevelt quote comes to mind, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

But why did her words cause me to tear up? I think it was for two reasons:

1. I questioned if I ever made her feel she is not good somehow? As a parent, am I affirming her enough? Does she really know she is good? What can I do to make sure this precious child never questions that statement and maintains her self-worth?

2. Am I good? I want to be good – a good person, a good mom, a good friend, a good teacher. I want to be seen as good, perhaps more than anything.

A few of years ago, I picked “good” as my word for that year and thought I would share some words that brought me comfort then and even still as I reflect on them now.

In a world where we see evil at every turn, I want a constant reminder to combat it with GOOD.

When I hear complaining and gossip around me and feel tempted to join in, instead I need to remember to look for the GOOD.

When I have a conversation, interaction, Facebook post, or decision to make, I want to make sure I’m adding GOOD to the world with my words and choices.

When I feel envious, angry, hurt or resentful, I can choose to act on my emotions or I can choose to see it as an opportunity to do rise above and model what is right and good.

When those around me feel less than or unworthy, I will make sure they know that they are good, that there is much more right about them than wrong.

You are good.

 

Making the Most of this Quarantine Life
adventures with kids · parenting · quarantine · Uncategorized

Making the Most of this Quarantine Life

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My dad used to say “attitude is everything,” and as a teenager it would annoy me. Now, as an adult, it resonates. We are doing our best to make the most of this stay home time and have the best attitudes we can. I wanted to share some of the things we’ve been doing to make this time special and memorable.

We love going for walks in the neighborhood and really love going on hikes. Many activities have been cancelled, but hiking and being outdoors is not cancelled!

Hiking is our favorite. We are so lucky to live near so many different trails and parks.

Flying kites. Most people think of March as the windy kite flying month. But the entire spring season rocks for this. Check out my blog post on my three best kept kite flying secrets. (I just gave you one.)

Flying kites isn’t just something on our spring checklist, it’s a pastime.

Crafts! We love arts and crafts. It’s super fun to get curious and try new things with art. One of my favorites was making our own scented crayons. Check out my post on how to make them.

We made our own scented crayons.

Scavenger hunts. My kindergartener, Madeline, has received quite a few scavenger hunts from her teacher and really liked them. I am a teacher too, so it inspired me to try and find some my middle schoolers would enjoy. Our favorite was without a doubt was the photo scavenger hunt. You can find it as well as photos from ours here.

The photo scavenger hunt was the best!

Sidewalk chalk fun. We have always loved sidewalk chalk, but we were really inspired when our friends started posting their chalk mosaics on social media. So of course we wanted to try it ourselves. You can check out my post on them here.

Sidewalk chalk mosaic!

Acts of kindness. We have had fun trying to think of ways to show kindness during this time. One way was to paint and hide kindness rocks at one of our favorite hiking trails. Another was to go through our books and take some we didn’t want anymore to our Little Free Library so other children can enjoy them.

Madeline found a kindness rock on our curb which inspired us to pay it forward and make our own.
We donated some of our books to this Little Free Library.

Drives. We live near country roads and drives out in the country are the best. Winding roads lined with trees, beautiful fields and farmland, favorite music cranked and sun roof open. This was not canceled. I would like to add the we are so grateful for drive through coffee and curbside pickup. This lets us help support local businesses too.

Supporting one of our favorite local coffee shops.
Stop Talking about Your Problems
law of attraction · wisdom

Stop Talking about Your Problems

Essentially Better Living1 Comment

Contrary to what you’ve heard your whole life (and what I’ve heard my whole life) “venting” and talking about your problems isn’t your best option. Let me share a few reasons why:

  1. Each time you talk about your issue you relive it all over again. Have you ever told someone about something bad that happened to you and found yourself getting upset and maybe even angry all over again, as you were telling the story? It was bad enough that you had to go through it. How many times do you want to retell that story and repeat that vibrational history? Have you ever had someone tell you about their troubles, then hours later they were still telling that same story to other people? It’s really a waste of their mental and emotional energy.
  2. You keep the problem active. You’ve probably heard that “you get what you think about.” Or “what you think about you bring about.” Or “as a man thinketh so is he.” You get the idea. Keep your thoughts positive!
  3. The worse it gets the worse it gets. I know I will meet some resistance and so many swear by therapy. I do believe it has its place! I’ve been to a therapist myself and also participated in group therapy. I can for sure tell you it gave me clarity in certain areas. But it also didn’t lead to a healthier happier me. That came years later. It was when I stopped beating the proverbial drum of “what is” and feeling the need to dredge up the past that things got better for me. Now I’m forward thinking. I’m focused on how I want my life to be. I don’t feel the need to declare “what is” or bring up old school. That’s in the past. I’m quieter, but more content. I’m less popular, but I’m ok with that.

I follow the teachings of Abraham Hicks and I think this transcript from one of her conversations really paints a clear picture of what I’m trying to say:

“Things tipped when I stopped doing talk therapy. I stopped talking about my problems over and over and over. I don’t talk about my problems anymore and they just seem to not be there. And it’s weird ’cause it’s a woman thing – whoever has the biggest problem, you’re the winner. So I’m not very popular anymore. I have some really good problems, but I just don’t talk about them. Then the problem is that I’m not getting any attention, but I’m still having the problems and that’s the part that’s hard. I’m not getting the accolades of making it through.”

“Problems can be entertaining and more people relate to them.”

“People get you more when you’re complaining than when you’re not. There’s never a crowd on the leading edge.”

“Notice that movies and the news aren’t oriented to what’s uplifting. They want to keep your fears active and keep you coming back.”

“Show me a popular person and I’ll show you a complainer.” – Abraham Hicks

To sum it up, if you keep talking about your problems, you may get the positive outcome of popularity because people find you relatable. It’s easier to find mutuality with someone when they share their problems. People may like to hear about your troubles because it makes them feel better about their own lives. HOWEVER, each time you share those problems, each time you complain, be aware that you are no doubt going to bring more things to complain about – more problems – into your reality. That’s law of attraction.

Will you be friendless now? Absolutely not. Rest assured, you will attract others. Contentment and well being is also compelling and everyone is hungry for it. You will even likely attract the same people. The difference is that you will attract the best from them. ❤️