You Are

"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."
- Winnie the Pooh, created by A.A. Milne

picture credit E.H. Shepard

Holding On and Letting Go

If I hold on tightly to one thing, I cannot be open to anything else.
I must risk letting go to build something new or to touch someone I love.
I must let go of old hurts, for as long as I hold on to my history of pain, I cannot embrace the love that is in front of me.
I must open my heart to be filled with new love.

Courage of the heart brings peace of mind.

Empathy and Trust: The Standards For Which We Must Strive

We must see everyone in our schools as a human being.  Everyone!

This includes students (ALL students), teachers (regular education, special education, health and physical education), custodial staff, administrative assistants, food service workers, paraprofessionals, administrators, and especially parents.  We must remember that education is personal to every one of our students.  We are all human beings with fears and talents.

Empathy and trust must be the standards for which we strive.  Empathy is the essential connection we experience when we feel with someone.  It is the single greatest asset in education and in life; empathy brings a long-lasting feeling of all the good that exists and reassures human beings that they are not alone.

To earn trust, we must extend trust.  We must believe in the goodness of people and we need to treat them as if they are that goodness.  We must lead with our hearts as well as with our minds.

We must see test scores, academic standards, and budgets as subordinate to people and not the other way around.  In my experience, all three of these have, at different times, been seen as more important than the people in the organization.  If we're ever going to reach our goals for children and learning, human connection and empathy must be our highest priority.

The only way to advance education is for people to pull together as a community and focus on empathy, build trust, and respect everyone.

We need to rebuild schools that have, as their highest priority, the care of human beings.

A Creed

Be kind and gentle to yourself and the world is more peaceful.

Forgive yourself and others will feel your forgiveness.

Respect yourself and you will treat others with respect.

Look for the good in everyone.

Be grateful.  Just be grateful.

Trust.

Accept yourself.  Accept others.  We are all doing the best we have with what we know.

Optimism is a choice.  Let go of negativity.

Be willing.  "The willingness is all."

Say "Yes" to Life.  Embrace life.

Kindness Is Always Possible

"Be kind whenever possible.  It is always possible."
- Dalai Lama

I have the privilege to live with and be married to Sandra, my role model of kindness.  Her daily existence is bringing comfort and kindness to everyone with whom she comes into contact.  Her life is an example that kindness is always possible.

The Highest Standards

To commit our teaching as a loving service to our students transforms our work into a spiritual gift.  The definition of excellence in education becomes a commitment to the highest standards of human development.

Are we kind?  Are we respectful?  Are we responsible?  Have we been nice to everyone with whom we interact?

All of our actions become an opportunity to serve the greater good.  All our preparation, late nights, phone calls home, adapting lessons, and supporting the needs of the Whole Child become ingredients in contribution to world service.  Our smallest intervention serves the greater good, provides health and healing, and ennobles our profession.

Repeating Patterns

I continue to learn the humility of accepting my life and my imperfections.  I find myself repeating patterns of feeling sad because I did not speak my truth.  Repetition like a wave breaking regularly on the shoreline of my heart.  I seek to be kind, gentle, and considerate.  I am silent so I do not cause pain for others.  I feel the pain of my silence.

The sun repeats its blessed warmth and I continue to learn.  No matter how many times I need to learn this lesson, like the sun, it will repeat.  I accept my sadness as often as is needed until I learn how to break my old patterns and become whole.

Beautiful Reciprocity

What is spirituality?

I recently heard a story of someone asking a monk, “What is your life like as a monk?”

The monk replied, “We walk, we fall down, someone helps us up.  We walk some more, someone else falls down, we help him up.  That’s pretty much what we do.”

-       Ernest Kurtz & Katherine Ketcham

I love this simple, beautiful story.  This is my kind of spirituality.  I have fallen often in my life; someone or something has helped me back up.  In turn, I have lived my life helping others who have fallen.

Beautiful reciprocity.

Recognition

I have been thinking lately about human communication and recognition.  I believe we all want to be recognized for our highest self.  We want to be seen as the best version of ourselves.  That same self radiates from each of us.

One of the great blessings of having a profoundly developmentally different child is I get to witness her essence everyday.  Ashley does not have the ability to be anything other than the purity and innocence of her highest self.  I feel her angelic nature.  I feel God’s breathing through her. 

God is breathing through you and me also.  This life is not a dress rehearsal.

If you want to know God, hold the hand of the person next to you.

If you want to see God, look into the eyes of someone you love.

If you want to experience God, acknowledge someone, even a stranger, as his or her highest self.

You will be participating in a miracle.  You will heal their separation and loneliness.  You will create peace.

A Symphony of Hearts and Souls

We each have a unique gift to bring to the world.  It is our own responsibility to develop and share this gift.  The world will not be whole if we do not share our gifts and strengths.

During our Masonic LifeSkills Conference, we each share our gifts and talents. 

We create a safe atmosphere for 120 students to nurture, practice, and ultimately perform their gifts on life’s stage. 

We build a community – safe, accepting, celebrating differences. 

We create harmony in relationships and collaboration through problem-solving, effective communication, and creative thinking.

We conduct a symphony of hearts and souls sharing the music of joy and grace.  Our collective gifts create a synergy… and love is revealed.

Appreciation

“The deepest principle of human nature is the craving to be appreciated.” – William James

Today, extend value to everyone you meet.  Who provides service to you?  Who is your school custodian?  Who cleans up after all of us are gone?  Who began work today in the early morning so you could have lunch?  Who warmed the bus before dawn so you could ride to school? 

All of those in service deserve your care, attention, and appreciation.