ecoPharmacist

Monday Mantra

I think I might start a new blog fad for myself…introducing Monday Mantra! I’m feeling that some positive affirmations are needed to get the week going in the right direction. Think positive, be positive, have a positive attitude.

Are you one who dreads a Monday, or loves it?

Monday signals the start of a new week. Monday signals the start of new beginnings, new opportunities, new chances to live. We need to see each day as a reminder of how amazing life is and how lucky we are to be alive facing a new week. You can embrace the many opportunities that each day brings. Each day is a chance to improve your life or the life of another.

Think back on today and determine the good things you did to make your day special and how may you have affected that of another. Do you wish you could or would have done some things differently? Well don’t worry, there is tomorrow and another chance to make the day what you want; To live in the moment and be present. Express gratitude for the day. Be aware of the beauty of nature that surrounds you, and enjoy the sounds that sing to you. The smallest things can make a great day. Those great days make the worst days feel a million miles away. Be you, be happy.

Hope you had a wonderful Monday!

Skills Every Child Should Master

Came across this article today on Mom.me, and with 4 kids at home, it caught my eye. I feel that today’s kids are growing up with a great sense of entitlement, and manners are not always as good as they could be. This article focusses on skills every child should master before college. I think they should be taught and practiced as a toddler! These skill set the tone to make any child be a good person with a sense of level headedness and self-control. Here is the article again, courtesy of Mom.me:

OWN UP TO MISTAKES

No matter what age we are, perfectionism can deter our capacity for learning and enjoyment. Not admitting when we do make mistakes can be just as disruptive to our lives.

The preschooler who drew a crayon collage all over a bedroom wall should be able to admit to their mistake and—if we’re open to miracles—help their parent clean it up. The college student who didn’t read an assignment in its entirety, leaving out important details in their work, should be able to admit to this mistake and—if we’re open to burgeoning adulthood—accept a lower grade.

BE OK WITH “NO”

College professors aren’t always amenable to extra credit, grade changes or due date extensions. Parents aren’t always amenable to extra dessert, rule changes or bedtime extensions. No one likes to hear the word “no,” but everyone should be able to hear it without throwing a tantrum (or storming out of the classroom).

SAY ‘PLEASE’ AND ‘THANK YOU’

The demanding, ungrateful preschooler who keeps shouting for a “Cookie! NOW!” often doesn’t get what they want. The demanding college student who acts as if it’s their God-given right to a 50-point extra credit assignment often doesn’t get what they want either.

A simple “please” rarely results in any sort of extravagant gift. But for me it has, on occasion, yielded some additional flexibility and (yes) a small extra-credit assignment for the entire class.

FIGURE OUT HOW TO LIVE WITH RULES YOU DON’T LIKE

Few preschoolers adore bedtime. Most actively hate their parents’ expectations about not drawing on the walls. (You can see that I have some experience with this one.) Similarly, few college students adore attendance requirements or homework expectations.

But college students who don’t show up to class or complete their assignments won’t pass the class. Preschoolers who don’t go to bed on time won’t pass life. (Or at least that’s how it can feel to their parents.)

ASK QUESTIONS

This is a fun skill—and one that small children often master without any guidance. But somewhere along the way, many of us become self-conscious about asking questions.

I might not want each one of my students to ask as many questions as a toddler does each and every day. (I think the last running total I heard was somewhere close to 400 in 24 hours.) But I do want each one of them to rediscover the comfort that toddlers and preschoolers have when it comes to asking questions. It helps everyone learn more, expands minds and open the asker up to all of the wonderful possibilities that come with an education.

LOOK FOR SOMETHING ON THEIR OWN BEFORE ASKING FOR HELP

Once, 15 whole weeks into the semester, a student asked me where they could find the course readings. These readings were on the course syllabus. They were on our online course calendar. And I had just written the readings on the board during the previous class.

I told the student as much and sent them back searching.

It reminded me of the time when my preschool-aged son scream-whined for me to help him find his favorite stuffed animal. Which happened to be next to him. Half-draped over his leg. Right in front of his face.

I kindly asked him to take a moment to look for the beloved toy himself before requesting my help again.

A Week To Be Thankful

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, it definitely sets the mind to think about and reflect on the things that I am grateful for in my life. Consider today as the beginning of a week to be thankful for yourself too.

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”

Melody Beattie

To show people that you are grateful, you have to make it a habit to tell people thank you. It is so meaningful to express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. When you truly appreciate those around you, they will feel it and see it through your actions and energy. You will soon find many others around you, because the energy of gratitude that you express will draw more people to you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it to share with others. When you practice gratitude, you are practicing a sense of respect towards others. I think in this day and age, that dynamic needs much focus and attention.

“We need to regularly stop and take stock; to sit down and determine within ourselves which things are worth valuing and which things are not; which risks are worth the cost and which are not. Even the most confusing or hurtful aspects of life can be made more tolerable by clear seeing and by choice.”

~ Epictetus

A life changing perspective

BE THANKFUL

Gratitude

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark form another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.  ~ Albert Schweitzer

Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.   ~Brian Tracy

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.   ~ Melody Beattie

I write about the power of trying, because I want to be okay with failing. I write about generosity because I battle selfishness. I write about joy because I know sorrow. I write about faith because I almost lost mine, and I know what it is to be broken and in need of redemption. I write about gratitude because I am thankful – for all of it.   ~ Kristin Armstrong

We are constituted so that simple acts of kindness, such as giving to charity or expressing gratitude, have a positive effect on our long-term moods. The key to the good life, it seems, is the good life: a life with sustained relationships, challenging work, and connections to community.  ~ Paul Bloom

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.  ~ Melody Beattie

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.  ~ Karl Barth

Practicing Gratitude

Studies show that practicing gratitude enhances your well-being. What is gratitude? According to Dictionary.com: Gratitude is the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful. Gratitude is a readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness. Sounds simple right?

I will be honest and say I was surprised to see how many online articles there are that teach people how to show gratitude.  How can this be? Is it really that hard to be happy and show people that we are thankful for what our lives hold? It then became apparent to me, that we may be letting the negative struggles take focus off how happy life can be, or is.  Taking on a routine of meditation, can help with that. Looking within,  and breathing in the moment, will help you become aware of yourself and where your focus needs to shift. For some, that means taking the emphasis off negativity and realizing what makes you happy, makes you smile.

“Gratitude opens the door to…the power, the wisdom, the creativity of the Universe. You open the door through gratitude.” ~Deepak Chopra

If you struggle to recognize your level of gratitude, perhaps you can start a journal, logging the things and times you show or feel gratitude. Practicing conscience gratitude can enhance your over all well being, lowering your chances for depression and anxiety. It seems as simple as shifting your focus off the negative things that can drag you down, to focusing on the positive aspects that give you that happy lift.  Makes me think of the age old saying, ‘is the glass half empty or half full?’

Ask yourself these questions through out your day:

1. Did someone or something give me inspiration today?

2. What was the best part of my day?

3. Did someone or something make me smile?

4. Did I conscientiously show my gratitude to some one who inspired or helped me today?

Teaching children how to be grateful and to show gratitude is a diminishing practice, I think. Children are becoming materially focused, demanding wants and not recognizing their true needs, and the needs of others. This is contributing to the rudeness we see in our society today. I found a cute project that can be implemented to get your household to recognize the people, places or things they are grateful for.

Gratitude Tree:

1. Arrange tree branches in a colorful planter, pot or vase

2. Cut out paper leaves, flowers or hearts in different colors, shapes, and sizes

3. Place the shapes in a bowl, along with markers, and put the bowl next to the tree branches.

4. Have each family member pick a shape, and write down something that they’re grateful for on it

5. Hang the leaf from the tree branches.

I think this will encourage the whole family or guests, to express gratitude for the things in life that truly inspire them, and contribute to their happiness.

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” ~ William Arthur Ward