4-23-202002

Mary’s Minute

“Don't mistake activity with achievement.”

― John Wooden

In our current situation we have developed a new definition of activity and achievement.  For healthcare and other essential workers their level of activity is certainly both activity and achievement.  

Many of us are working from home and suddenly activity seems totally different than what it did a few months ago.  The contrast makes me reflect on a life that sometimes seems in the distant past.  

Just a few months ago, it seemed that everyone was busy.  We were busy at work, and when we are home we are busy with household chores and social activities.  Children were embedded in world of the generation of joiners, rushing from one activity to another.  Being busy with activities was not necessarily a bad thing, but this new normal makes the words of the famous coach John Wooden relevant, as we realize activity is not the equivalent of achievement.  

Coach Wooden was undoubtedly giving advice about sports, but I think his remark makes sense in all aspects of life.  In our jobs, being busy is not the same as being productive.  In our personal lives, having a full schedule of activities does not equate to personal satisfaction and happiness.  Of course, it can, and many of us long for the days when we can return to more activity.

I think staying busy is a great thing, but I just want to be sure that I remember that being busy is not alone enough to feel self-actualized.

We are now busy in different ways.  When we begin to return to our former busy lives with our jobs, trips, social commitments, community involvement, and much more, I believe we will be more self-ware of what is truly necessary and what is important for happiness.  Activity can certainly lead to achievement or success, but now more than ever we are cognizant that we need to make sure our actions are leading to the kind of achievement we desire whatever that may be.

                                                                       Stay safe and well!

                                                                                                Mary

4-17-2020

Mary’s Minute

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

                                                                ~ Dwight Eisenhower

I don’t think any of us could have imagined this exact scenario for the spring of 2020.  But we are ready, not because we had a plan, but because we have been planning. 

I think about my own career.  They did not teach us in administrative classes how to support a school community through a pandemic, but I feel I have been planning my entire career by practicing problem solving and communication.

I didn’t plan for my young adult children to be living on their own in our family house, taking care of a house and taking classes full-time, yet they have been preparing by building independence since they were toddlers.

I cannot speak from experience, but I would assume that hospitals and medical professionals prepare for many of the most challenging scenarios, but in the light of a pandemic, it is not the “plan” but their lifetime of planning that has made them heroes.

Teachers are champions of making plans.  It is not their plans but their planning that prepared them to care for their students virtually through this challenging time.

Seniors in high school and college began making plans for graduation.  Those plans went out the window, but their planning allowed them to be ready to deal with disappointment and use their energy to prepare for the next phase of their lives.

We cannot plan for every scenario life will throw at us, but we can spend our lives planning through honing skills of communication, problem solving, and collaboration, and striving to have a positive spirit in all we do.  I think we all are finding that this planning is serving us well.

                                                                         Stay safe and well!

                                                                                              Mary

4-3-2020

Mary’s Minute

“Brave is finding a new normal.”

                                                           ~ Anonymous

Almost five years ago right after my daughter, Zoe, was diagnosed with Lupus and trying to navigate her new life of a daily handful of pills, a life-long need to take blood thinners, the reality of drug side effects, testing her blood weekly, and much more, someone said to her that she would soon settle into her new normal.  The phrase stuck with her and she embraced the idea finding her new normal.  She was brave, and now lives her new normal with many of the conditions she faced then still present for her today. She does it with such positivity that it is easy for her and others to forget she even has a chronic illness.

Just a few months ago, we could have never predicted what our new normal would be.  Teachers were teaching in their classrooms.  Students were running care-free with dozens of classmates on the playground.  We were enjoying meals out with family and friends.  We were planning vacations.  We had a sense of security.  All of those things are gone, and we must be brave to be at peace with our new normal.  Although we know this will not last forever, the experience will change us forever. 

                                                                   Stay safe and well!

                                                                                       Mary