2-26-2021

 

Mary’s Minute

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”   

                                                                 ~ Albert Einstein

As an educator, I have always valued questioning.  At every age and stage in our life, questions are what propel learning.  The constant questions of toddlers are a sign that they are learning.  Science is propelled by thoughtful inquiry, and we grow as people when as we pose questions about the important to the mundane.  The Socratic Method of teaching dates back thousands of years and is based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking. 

 There is no doubt, that questioning is a way to keep our minds sharp and to continually learn.

In a time when we need to not just push our minds intellectually, but also keep our minds and hearts hopeful, questioning also plays a role.  Einstein reminds us that questioning can also be part of our affective development – to question is a way to remain hopeful.  And hope is essential to our social emotional well-being.   Hope is our window to the future, and questioning can help spark hope. 

                                                                          Have a great week!

                                                                                                               Mary

2-19-2021

 Mary’s Minute

 

“Life is too short to… “ If you google quotes about life being short, you will come up with a range of actions.  “Life is too short to hold a grudge.” (Mya) “Life is too short not to experiment.” (Jamelia) “Life is too short not to have pasta, steak, and butter.” (Iman) “Life is too short to not enjoy it.” (Glen Campbell)  “Life is too short to blend in.” (Paris Hilton) 

We all realize that life is short, but when tragedy strikes in a community, it hits us especially hard and reminds us how precious every moment is.  It goes back to our purpose in life.  Knowing that life is short, we are forced to reflect on what really matters as we each fill in the blank:  Life is too short to____. 

Some of our responses might be frivolous:  Life is too short to not eat cake for breakfast, while others get at the core of who we are, like, Life is too short to not help those in need.  I actually think we can learn a lot from our fun responses, just like we can from our more serious retorts.  In my journal tonight, I am going to put the heading, “Life is too short to…” and then start my list.  I hope you might consider doing the same, as a way to reflect on what matters most in life.

 

                                                                                        Take care,  

                                                                                                     Mary

 

Mary’s Minute

 

“Love doesn't make the world go 'round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” 

                                                                    ~ Franklin Jones

 

The holiday of love is upon us!  As someone not in a romantic relationship, I could avoid the topic of Valentine’s Day like the plague, but instead I want to embrace it.  Love is always worth celebrating! 

 

It may not be a day of flowers and candy for me, but it will be a day to celebrate friendship and love for all.  Love for one another – caring for others -- is what makes life worthwhile.  It is our reason for being and our purpose for life.

 

Romantic love is nice, but even if we don’t have romantic love doesn’t mean we need to shy away from celebrating love.  Love is for everyone!  Knowing that we are connected to a caring world and have the capacity to love and be loved is something pretty incredible.

 

                                                             Happy Valentine’s Day!

                                                                            Love, 

                                                                                  Mary

2-5-2021

 

Mary’s Minute

 

“You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.”

                                                  ~ Brian Tracy

We started talking about pandemic fatigue months ago.  Months ago!  That means we were already worn out months ago, so what does that say about now?  I feel like this week I have especially been feeling the fatigue – or another way to describe it is that I have been cranky.  Until this morning I was feeling that people around me were cranky too, but I woke up thinking about how I needed to give myself an attitude adjustment.

I realized that maybe the way I perceived people was more about me than about them. 

 I know that I control my attitude, and my attitude controls my actions.  I can’t control what happens to me, but I certainly can control my attitude, which in turn controls how I behave. 

For the most part the pandemic is out of our control (aside from the obvious of masking up and getting vaccinated when we can), but I have the power to control my attitude.  I am going to work really hard to not let fatigue of a nearly year-long situation weigh on me!  Attitude is everything, and I am lucky that it is something I can control.

                                        

Have a great week!

                                                                        Mary