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Reflections
PUBLISHED BY REFLECTIONS RESOURCES, LTD. Winter, 2004
Working with schools, parents, and organizations to reflect on
and improve the quality of career, relationships, and life transitions.
A MESSAGE FROM MARY MCGRATH
Whenever I speak I enjoy visiting with those in attendance. It amazes me to watch them engage in group reflections and consider their own life circumstances when solo time is allotted during a session. I am continually impressed with how groups target their issues and come up with solutions for better managing and enhancing their lives.
An example of stresses gathered by a recent audience can be found on the West Metro Learning Connections web site. Parents in attendance at my December workshop there collectively listed their concerns before they worked on solutions and made considerations for growth. Check out the bottom of the Latest News section on their web site,
http://www.wmlearningconnections.com to see their efforts. A thank you to these parents and all audiences for motivating and encouraging me. Mary
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Turning Winter Blahs into Ahs and Ha-has!
Sometimes we feel frustration with the length and limitations of winter. At other times, in spite of spring break seeming eons away, we find a place within of acceptance and even indifference to it’s inconveniences. In order to stack the winter days on the positive side perhaps some awe and humor introduced into the mix may be of help. Consider the following to move winter into your plus column.
- Look for and set up opportunities to enjoy humor. Read more of the endless jokes that come on your e-mail or newspaper comics. Laugh out loud at them! Rent that surefire funny video that has always been successful at getting you laughing. Assign a “Joker of the Day” to present a riddle or joke to your class. This will help channel humor appropriately and move it away from the type that comes with cabin fever in classrooms. A joke also sparks up family time.
- Look for beauty and blessing. Whether you are riding an interstate and notice wild turkeys grazing in the distance or glance at horses while traveling a country road en route to you workplace, you can choose to register images in your mind that evoke satisfaction and gratitude. Perhaps you will find good in the trusting eyes of a child or appreciation in a note from a parent who has noticed your efforts. The important thing is to take in any experience that helps you to own your goodness and giftedness.
- Interrupt your frustrations with pleasant thoughts and experiences. Maybe turning on a CD guaranteed to bring peace or mood improvement will help on the route to work or day care. Give your self time to watch the woodpeckers angle for suet outside your family room window. Notice juncos hopping around the ground gathering sunflower seeds that landed after chickadees skittered about on a platform feeder above. ...and, why not? - THINK SPRING!
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Current:
“RejuveNATION at the International School”, The International School of Minnesota,
Eden Prairie, MN, February 13, 2004.
“My Major Impact Person - Writing About a Hero”, Bethany Lutheran College,
Mankato, MN, sponsored by SC Service Cooperative, March 12, 2004.
Permission granted to copy and share this newsletter with others. When printing the article section please include attribution and contact information as below.
Mary Z. McGrath Ph.D., Speaker/Author/Educator
Reflections Resources, Ltd.
Phone: 952-894-7707 Fax: 952-890-3229
E-Mail: info@maryzmcgrath.com
http://www.maryzmcgrath.com
“Self-care keeps you there!”
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