You Become What You Choose. –Brian Kight
Each morning when you wake up, you have a choice. You can be anyone you want to be. You can be the driving force behind positivity and joy. You can be okay with just existing and being average. Or, you can believe that things are terrible and expect the worst. If you’re like me, there are many mornings that you wake up without making an intentional choice for any of these options. You go about your morning and your day letting events happen to you. If you’re like me you have some good days, some bad days and some just okay days. But, what if you woke up with intention. What if you woke up and took 5 minutes to focus on your goals. Five minutes to write them down, think about them and prepare yourself for a day that helps you move in the direction of those goals. How would your life change? How would your relationships change? What if you focused on loving what you do each day? Each day, at J.W. Reason we are working to be “Better Today Than Yesterday, Better Tomorrow Than Today”. The better tomorrows start with the intentional choices that each one of us makes about who we choose to be. The people who we choose to be will either raise or lower the averages of those around us. Listen to the August 16th podcast from Coyte Cooper as he talks about focusing our minds, controlling our emotions and how everything can change when we are intentional about who we want to be. This podcast is the story of Coyte’s TEDx Hilliard preparations. I had the pleasure of driving him to the airport and got to hear him talk about what a learning experience the TED Talk was for him. Coyte is also the author of Make Your Mark. His book changed my life. I hope you can take 15 minutes to listen to his podcast and remember, “You Become What You Choose”. Here is the staff update for September 1.
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I have written about the power of words many times. I truly believe in and value the impact that words have on others. This summer, I attended a conference in which Michelle Gielan, author of Broadcasting Happiness gave the keynote. During her inspiring talk, Michelle said three words that I will never forget. When I heard these words it was as if everything happening around me stopped and the weight of their meaning poured into my soul. I didn’t even have to write them down because in that very moment, what she said forever changed who I was.
“Words change people.” –Michelle Gielan Take minute and really let this simple phrase sink in. “Words change people.” When I say these words I can actually feel them inside of me. We often say, “be careful what you say”, or “words have an impact”. But, never had I considered that “words change people”. Not long after Michelle’s keynote I stood in the main office of my school greeting families and welcoming them on Meet the Teacher Night. I was helping answer questions about bus stops and teacher assignments and I didn’t pay much attention when the mom of an Arabic speaking student walked in along side of the mom of an English speaking student. I did notice that their children were laughing and playing side by side. But then I realized that the English speaking mother was carrying the other mother’s toddler for her. I soon discovered that these two moms had become friends over the summer because the live in the same neighborhood. And, to top is off the English speaking mother was using a translation app on her phone to talk to the Arabic speaking mom so she could help her navigate all of the beginning of the year forms that come with starting school. This story is heartwarming to say the least, but there is more to it. Just four months prior to this encounter on Meet the Teacher Night, I had another encounter with the same English speaking mom. Only this time she was expressing how uncomfortable and downright annoyed she was with all of the people in her neighborhood who couldn’t speak English. We had a heated and honest conversation. By the end of it I had convinced her that she should change her perspective about her neighbors and maybe try to meet some of them, bake them some cookies and welcome them to America. Yes, I actually said those words to her. She hugged me and said she appreciated me taking the time to talk to her without judgment. Needless to say, I chalked that up as a great day and would have been happy for the story to end there. Little did I know that in just a few short months, I would find this same mom taking another mom, one who didn’t speak English, under her wing. As I watched this mom and her new friend work together in the office on that Meet the Teacher Night, I was once again reminded that words change people. And, as this amazing mom turned to leave the office she hesitated for a moment, looked me directly in the eye and said, “Remember our conversation last school year? What you said changed my life.” I’ve written this post for one reason and one reason only, to remind myself and everyone who reads it that words really do change people. Our words are more than just heard and forgotten. Our words stay long after we’re finished saying them. Our words change people. How do you choose to use your words? Here is your staff update for August 25th, 2017. |
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