Forty days ---Again!!

Flower Heart
6/2011

Last year I blogged about my efforts to be healthy, eat healthy, workout and be consistent.

Well, I fell off that wagon and REALLY just over did it.  Through the days of eating badly, I learned that I liked the way I felt when I ate clean.

Actually to be truthful, I always did it for a man.  Thinking if I was thinner, more toned and tight it would attract the guy I was interested in, it never worked. Ever.  I would reach my goal and feel so good and be waiting for the acknowledgement of all my hard work, it never came. Hence, I would back slide, back slide, back slide.

So now this is for me.  All about me and no one else.

Every bit of sweat that drips off my body is for me.  Every rep, every squat, every crunch is for me.  I am finally putting myself first.

I always thought I was putting myself first, but I wasn’t. I was always qualifying myself with “ I will look so good ___ will just want to be with me”. 

It is hard for me to believe I just wrote those words.

So today is 40 days of clean eating, again. This time I have only myself that I care what I think. It is me for me.

I am doing what feels right for me. If I meet a man who appreciates me as I am so be it.  I won’t try to please a man by how I look physically again.

Today marks another 40 days of food sobriety.  Clean eating and in the last 7 days No SUGAR,  at all in any form. I am putting a lot of effort into this for me.

Be Who You Are...no matter what

        

 A friend sent me these inspirational words last spring.  It is a reminder to be true to oneself and oneself's calling.  To me it is a reminder that at the end of the day we are responsible to ourselves.

I am responsible to me and my higher self.  My question is can I live with the decisions that I make

about how I treat other people and myself.  That is a question for us to each think about everyday.

watercolor on watercolor paper
12/2011

        

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

            If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

  If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  

   Succeed anyway.

           If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

            What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

            If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

            The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

         Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

         In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

         

The teacher (looking from a child's point of view)

Love
watercolor on watercolor paper
12/2012

What does a teacher do? Why is it important to have teachers? Who can be a teacher? How can a teacher be a positive influence in the life of another? Why is it important?

What words come to mind when thinking of teachers? Which teachers do we remember from our own childhood? One’s that treated us respectfully or one’s that gave us a hard time?

Today I was going through my iPhoto library; just browsing, looking to see what was there, and I came across photos my students had taken of me. I looked at the images, of myself, one a close up of my face and saw something beautiful.

I saw a patient, kind, gentlewoman.

I don’t always look at myself, but I was looking through the lens of my students.

I often find the children to be my teacher.  I have something to learn from each of the children in my care.

With some children the flow and the communication is easy.

With some children I have to reach deep inside my arsenal of patience and understanding to connect with them.

As it is with the parents of my students as well, there are parents I have an easy time discussing the development of their child with them and those I am challenged with.

As a teacher with parents my role is to bring visibility to the growth and development of their child as well as the areas of development (those are challenging).  My role is to help the parents see a strong image of their child as a learner, competent, capable, inquisitive and developing their autonomy.

There are basic questions I ask myself when engaging with parents: is it true? Is it kind? Can I be diplomatic about it?

Can I create a bond of trust that we are both advocates for the child’s wellbeing?

The role of a teacher is not always easy but to me it is so, so, so much fun.  I watch the children grow. I pace myself with mindfulness armed with an arsenal of early childhood development practice and my own practice of “do no harm”.