#CelebrateMonday!
October 16, 2017
Do you know why today can be a happy Monday AND a beautiful Monday? Because I can make the intentional choice for it to be so!
I've been thinking a lot about choices since attending the trauma institute this past Wednesday.
What sparked this thinking was the idea that we have a choice in how things will play out with students when we encounter difficult situations. We can choose to do all that we can to remain regulated (calm, cool, collected and focused on the student and his/her needs) or we can allow ourselves to become dysregulated (reacting to a situation in a manner that is focused on how the student is making us feel - out-of-control, frustrated, angry, etc.).
Speaking for myself - it is not easy for me to make the choice to remain regulated - but I can acknowledge that it is a choice that I have and then work to do all that I can to try to maintain that mental and emotional state.
We can choose to view Mondays as opportunities for fresh starts and new beginnings (yay!)- or we can choose to dread them and the week ahead (boo!).
We can choose to assume positive intent in all with whom we work, or we can choose to live defensively - expecting and anticipating the worst all of the time.
We can choose to view the 1 million unexpected events that pop up in the day (phone calls, student discipline, unanticipated meetings, longish conversations with staff/colleagues) as opportunities to build relationships and to learn more about ourselves as we maneuver those obstacles, or we can choose to allow frustration and aggravation to permeate our entire being and cast a gloomy shadow over the day.
We can choose to be that one caring adult that a child will have.
And this doesn't just apply to children (although - that's our focus, right?) - it also applies to adults. We can be heroic to both children and to our fellow colleagues by choosing to be that one caring adult!
Kids have bad days, they have bad past (or current) experiences, and they need someone each day to be that one person who will care about them.
Adults, too, have bad days. They have bad past (or current) experiences, and they also need someone each day to be that one person who will care for them. They need this ESPECIALLY if they are working hard to be that one caring adult for a child/student in their lives.
Our students - regardless of the trauma they have experienced in their lives - deserve to have that ONE caring adult in their lives. As Josh Shipp says in the video linked below, "Every kid is ONE caring adult away from being a success story." We can choose to be that one caring adult!
In addition, let's make the choice to allow ourselves to be cared for by others. We need it - and we are deserving of it.
And finally, let's choose to make this the best Monday of the week!