Quote No.52 from Encourage Yourself Encourage Others by Anne Devine.
What have you done during Lockdown that’s been new to you?
I’ve taken part in a Zoom poetry club and a Zoom Cafe Adler. They were fun and they gave me the opportunity for some new learning. I enjoyed the sense of community and it helped replace the social interaction I’ve been missing! I’ve also been busy sharing and enjoying these positive quotes and the lovely interactions they are creating for me!
Please share something you’ve never done before, something new and different that you’ve been doing!
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
(Enquiries to info.devinepublishing@gmail.com)
Yes, just like the photo, lives have been turned sideways, and upside down. But, we are resilient and we can adjust!
If you are lucky enough to be able to visit a beach, share your photo or link in the comments below. If you’re in lockdown and can’t visit a beach, don’t be afraid to dream up one!
Find a photo of a recent trip to the beach on your phone or better still dust of an old photo album and find one there. Memories are powerful! Relive those memories, smell the sea, hear the sounds all around you. Share what you recall, with others in the comments below or with those present around you.
Life is sometimes choppy, sometimes calm. Find the calm today and encourage others to find the calm too!
Le grà,
Mindfully Marie xx
Anne can be contacted at info.devinepublishing@gmail.com
If you are interested in obtaining a copy of Encourage Yourself Encourage Others, enquiries can be made directly to Anne at info.devinepublishing@gmail.com or by phone at 085 7167873
Last night’s beautiful Irish sunset. Approaching darkness or embracing light?
Do you see the darkness when you look at this photo or do you see the light?
Do you see people panic buying and paralysed by the unprecedented changes to our daily lives caused by Covid19?
Or do you see ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things to reach out and support one another, in ways not seen before?
This is an opportunity to change our focus,
From
‘What about me?’
to
‘What can I do for you? And then realising, what that just did for me!’
We can all do something with the time we are being given!
What are you doing?
I’m working from home, at least until the 29th of March. After that the future is unclear but that doesn’t matter because we only have to focus on this, one day at a time!
I never thought supporting others with their literacy development by phone, e-mail and online could be so fulfilling. I’m finding myself present in somebody’s isolation. I’m a voice and a listening ear. I’m having conversations about the fear this virus is causing. And in the same conversation I’m talking about the power of being connected to each other and its positive impact on mental well-being. I’m highlighting the importance of distraction and the opportunity to set small learning goals…
Like
Taking a break from news updates
and overwhelming media stories,
To
Setting a goal for this morning
And one more for tonight,
Like
Reading something you enjoy,
Then
Writing the paragraph you just read,
And then selecting two spellings
Breaking them into syllables such as
Information….
In / for / ma / tion
Or
Situation…
Sit / u / a / tion
Then with a sense of satisfaction and achievement,
This morning while cooking breakfast, I noticed the bubbles forming and bursting on the surface of my porridge; intent upon their job. I held onto those air trapped moments, soaking them in! It’s difficult to explain the sensation of absolute awareness that I felt, other than it being a feeling of enhanced appreciation and total bliss. Life was beautiful; just bubbles and me!
How often do you engage fully in the moment? Can you describe the sensation?
Time and the right conditions not only preserve but bring about something of beauty – Marie Clancy.
Today I would like to share T.S’s very emotive, true story from his blog “Crazywriterof6.” As I read T.S’s distressing reality, I felt my body became anxious. I felt his apprehension and fear. His sense of loneliness and isolation is palpable. He says… “Maybe some of you can relate and see that even then, you weren’t alone”. No child should be in dread every day, isolated and living with the fear of bullying!
In my last post I wrote about the difficulty I had in supporting my children, both victims of bullying, because of the pressure on victims to remain silent. You might like to read it… Big Boys…Don’t Cry!
We now hear in T.S’s own words, his deeply ingrained and debilitating belief as to why he was bullied… “The torture continued. Many moments before this event, many after. I have written some of them out, just to get them out. All this because I was different than the “normal people”, different from what society says I should be. Different because I was overweight”. I believe he was not different… everybody is different and everybody has the right to be respected for who and how they are.
Please enhance your understanding by reading his story…
At a funeral yesterday, one sentence struck me, that sentence was “We could all be better people,” meaning we could all do more to be there for others.
Let’s break down the silence and begin a cross cultural, worldwide conversation about bullying. Let’s educate ourselves and our children about bullying and let’s tear down out-dated social norms.
Time and the right conditions not only preserve but bring about something of beauty – Marie Clancy.
Have you ever expected or wished for the easy path? I know I have on many occasions!
The Path of Life or The Easy Path at The Japanese Garden, Irish National Stud, Kildare and in life!
Life is easy if as a parent/teacher your children/students excel at sport, are the high achievers, are highly academic or simply, functioning!
But that’s not always reality and as a parent or teacher you’ve noticed your child/student disengage and opt out of school and fail exams. Your dreams and expectations are fading in front of your eyes. You’re upset, disappointed maybe even embarrassed.
Your child/student ‘should’ be independent, ‘should’ be academic, ‘should’ be functioning… but they’re not!
They’ve just ruined all your well laid plans and you feel bad! Now, spare a thought for how bad your child/student feels and that’s before you opened your mouth and added insult to injury.
So now what?
Well now is the perfect time to review YOUR expectations!
If your child/student had just been diagnosed with a major heart complaint, what expectations would you have? I bet you’d focus on what they can still achieve. You’d admire them for getting out of bed. You’d be pleased they pushed through their health limitations and managed to attend school!
So please, also take mental health into consideration and revisit YOUR expectations . The verbal and non-verbal messages you give your child/student, can be life-defeating when they struggle with mental health issues, bullying or what may even seems like an uncomplicated adolescence.
So if your child/student manages to turn back in for class…
1. Start by acknowledging that there is some issue.
2. Next acknowledge the fact that your child/student is in attendance TODAY.
3. Note the possibility they may not make the grade… but look for the bigger picture.
4. Practice unconditional, non-judgemental love and see the effort they are making, no matter how small.
5. Acknowledge their presence.
6. Recognise their engagement. Tell them you see that they have pushed through their health limitations to attend school and mix with their peers rather than self-isolating themselves in their bedroom!
Now you’ve realigned YOUR expectations! Now you’re telling them they are good enough, exactly as they are!
This approach will help your child/student learn to accept themselves as good enough. They may even let themselves feel happy! This very powerful feeling is addictive and soon they will want more. They will, in their own time, step into the driving seat and begin to empower themselves.
As a parent/teacher, try to understand, what is run of the mill and easy for one child/student, can be very challenging for another child/student. Placing value on their efforts not their achievements can be a game changer. (If you can see no effort, review your expectations again. Maybe just breathing and staying alive is taking all their effort). Love them even more, they need it more!
Watch them as they engage with life on their terms, at the level they are able for, at this precise moment. Now you’re encouraging them to pass the more important and real test – the test that is not the easy path but the path of life!
Have you ever had your expectations dashed? Have you realigned your expectations and seen your child/student flourish?
I enjoyed some relaxing leisure time with colleagues and students on our yearly outing recently. Our trip included time at The Irish National Stud & Japanese Garden. This display of flags represents all the countries that have completed The Irish National Stud Breeding Course. Can you spot your flag here? If you can or if you can’t, please say hello and tell me where you are on the globe? Better still tell me something interesting about where you live?My geography is improving daily thanks to the little map on WP Stats!
