Sacrifice

Watch this video to see an amazing example of self-sacrifice.  Would you have made the same call in that situation?

What does sacrifice mean to you?  What are you willing to sacrifice for the happiness of a loved one?  Would you give up a meal?  Would you pass up an opportunity?  What about for a stranger?

Your challenge this week is to make a sacrifice for someone.  Give up your seat on the bus for someone who needs it more than you.  Let someone cut in front of you at the grocery store.  Give someone your last piece of gum.  A sacrifice implies that you are giving something up, or going without, for the benefit of another.  What can you sacrifice today?

Building the Chain

Over the past two days we have added over 50 links to our kindness chain.  Each link represents an act of kindness performed by a member of the class.  Some of my favorites from the week:

• "I bought lunch for a friend that had forgotten his wallet."
• "A few days ago, I was at a wrestling tournament and this lady in a wheelchair was being pushed by some man.  I held the door open so they could enter the building."
• "I helped a lady pick up her books that she dropped at the bookstore."  
  
• "Gave a dollar to a homeless man."
•  "I helped someone having personal problems involving self-harm, even though we didn't always get along.  He was really shocked and I told him that it didn't matter that we had petty differences, it was best to put them aside for more important issues."
• "I complimented a girl on her shoes.  She thanked me and complimented my eyes."
• "This weekend my mom and I took my friend shopping and we bought him new clothes because his family could not afford to do that."
• "I got me and my girlfriend matching sweaters. <3  :-)"
• "Help clean up the commons after lunch at least twice a week."
• "I gave gum to my sister."
• "I helped my mom clean the house."
• "I told my bus driver to have a great week.  She looked surprised and said, 'thanks, you too!"
• "I did the dishes for my mom before she got home, so she wouldn't have to ask or do them herself." 

Keep up the good work!!  Create your own chain of kindness!!   

What do you want to be when you grow up?

 I consider myself to be one of the happiest people I know.  One reason is because I have a career that is challenging, fulfilling, and rewarding.

The majority of adults that I know have jobs that they don't really care about, dislike or actually hate!  And many of these people are able to find fulfillment and meaning in other areas of their life.  There are literally millions of Americans who have little or no passion for their "job" and are perfectly happy with their families and activities outside of work.

For me, the career that I have chosen has added so much richness and meaning to my life and this would not be possible without my education.

When students ask me "what's the point of all of this" or "when will I ever use this" or "why do we have to learn this" the real answer is so that you can have choices in your future.

Your happiness is not necessarily tied to your future income, but it is tied to your sense of self-worth.  And for many of us this is directly related to our field of employment.  To have the opportunity to choose a career that you are passionately invested in is rare and wonderful thing.  Everything that you do in school will either close or open doors to your future.

Kindness Challenge

Our goal over the next few weeks is to add to our kindness chain.  When students do something kind (out of the ordinary) they get to add a link to our paper chain.  The goal is to get it to meet up with last year's chain and make a complete loop around the room.

Kindness challenges this week:

• Compliment a stranger

• The fact that my students think this is so creepy speaks volumes about the world today.

•  Hold the door open for someone, smile and say hi while doing so

• I was very encouraged at how many students claim to do this on a regular basis already.

•  Introduce yourself to a new person every day

Failure

 

What is something you have failed at?  Has anyone ever called you a failure, told you you'd never amount to much, that you'd never accomplish anything?  Take a moment to write about it.  And now know that you are in good company.  The most successful people in the world often fail before they succeed!!  So keep your chin up, keep a positive attitude, keep giving it your best effort and success will follow.

You've just been Pep Talked

"Kid President" gives a very inspirational message in this video, challenging us to be awesome.  So, are you awesome?  If not, what's your excuse. We can always come up with a reason (good or bad) for why we fail to achieve our goals.  We all have challenges and barriers that get in the way of us becoming our best selves.  We can choose to accept mediocrity or worse yet, failure or we can choose to work together to achieve greatness.  We can choose to cry or we can choose to dance!

New Term

Today is the first day of our new semester.  We have some new faces and some new procedures.  A good way to start this new class is with a quick game of Get To Know You Bingo. 
It is also a clean slate.  A chance to start fresh.  If you are happy with how things went last term, then keep doing what you've been doing.  If you're not happy with the results from the last semester, try doing something different.  Start some new habits that are going to help you be more successful.