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A Positive Mindset


Wow! Where has the time gone? It is time to get back on the blogging train. This year, my students’ blogs will have more structure. There will still be a lot of choices, but, they will have to stick to a common thread or theme for at least a month at a time. The themes can an area of interest as long as they are able to connect it to an article, book, newspaper, or news story. There is so much value in connecting our writing to what we read and learn on a daily basis. Psychologist Angela Duckworth goes so far as to say that we can become better humans by reading more. She wrote, “We practice empathy when we lose ourselves in a good book…” (“Imagine That - Character Lab”). By placing ourselves in a story, whether real or imagined, it allows us to take on the pain, humor, and happiness of someone else.

My first quarter theme is going to center around positivity, kindness, and how our mindset can lead to a more contented life. I will seek and open my eyes to the positive stories happening in our world.  I will also share personal stories from my family periodically because it is important for all of us to see the good in our own lives before we can look for the good in the world.  The negative stories seem to always grab our attention and it makes it seem like the world is such a terrible place and we have lost our way as human beings. However, I want to focus on the positive. I will admit, I have not always set my mind on the good and have often dwelled on the negative. This has taken me down discouraging roads at times. It seems that with the growth of social media over the past 10-15 years, the negative is even more in our field of vision. However, the author and teacher, Tamara Letter, encouraged us to, “Imagine if each of us shared one positive post a day on our favorite social media platforms. Now imagine if we took one positive post from another person’s page then shared it on our own feeds…” (Letter 192). I am not prepared to make a pledge to post every day on social media; however, I do make a pledge to look for the positive in situations, seek out kindness cultivators (Letter), and encourage others to do the same.

Readers of my blog, please help me on my journey toward greater positivity and kindness by sharing stories that you come across, and asking me how my focus on a positive mindset is going. I have been inspired by authors like Tamara Letter (A Passion for Kindness) and Chase Mielke (How to Fall In Love With Teaching). Miekle challenged me to become more positive by choosing my attitude through mindfulness, gratitude, and focusing on the good things in our lives (“How to Fall in Love with Teaching Again”).

I will also be sharing some aspects of my running life. I have been a distance runner most of my life and I have made a greater commitment recently to consistently run a few days a week. I have noticed a shift in my mindset and positivity with this consistency. Thank you for joining me on this journey and please feel free to comment, suggest, and give feedback!



Sources:

“How to Fall in Love with Teaching Again.” Greater Good, 2019, greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_to_fall_in_love_with_teaching_again?fbclid=IwAR2V6L234gLBK6a_VfpPUBXtkAtZjIg1AwuDnqbHhaQ4MIiQrhXY3YqAhv4. Accessed 18 Aug. 2019.

“Imagine That - Character Lab.” Character Lab, 6 June 2019, characterlab.org/thoughts-of-the-week/imagine-that/. Accessed 18 Aug. 2019.

Letter, Tamara. A Passion for Kindness : Making the World a Better Place to Lead, Love, and Learn. San Diego, California, Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc, 2019.

Comments

  1. Rama JanamanchiAugust 28, 2019 at 4:26 PM

    I love the theme - to look for the positive. Ethan B had a quotation from a book he read over the summer, Capital Gaines, and in it, the narrator talks about how looking for the negative is neither wise nor insightful. In fact he says it is lazy. Positivity takes more effort but it is well worth it in the end.

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