Your mountain is waiting...
“YOU’RE OFF TO GREAT PLACES.
TODAY IS YOUR DAY!
YOUR MOUNTAIN IS WAITING,
SO GET ON YOUR WAY!”
DR. SEUSS
As a kid, I remember loving the sing-song style of Dr. Seuss. Not all of it made sense to me then, but now.. wow does it ever?? I mean…can 2020 be better characterized by Wacky Wednesday or what? “It all began with a shoe on a wall. A shoe on a wall doesn’t belong there at all.” It seems like every day we wake up and there’s another wacky thing happening. It’s kind of comical if you really step back and think about it. All of the Jumanji leveling up memes have been pretty funny and the year isn’t even over. (I am not for one minute diminishing the terrible suffering our world has experienced over the past 6-9 months. Please hear me out….)
Here’s the thing, and Dr. Seuss said it best “Only you can control your future.” We might not have control over what cards we are dealt. But we have total control over which cards we play. We certainly don’t have control over the decisions our leaders make. But we have total control over how we react to them. Again, the great Dr. Seuss wrote, "It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become”!
This year hasn’t been what anyone expected. The “where will you be in 5 years game” was lost by all because their answer from 2015 is not at all what 2020 brought. But, what can we learn from this year? What will we look back on and see as lessons learned, strength achieved, and milestones reached? More importantly, how will our children remember this time? Will our children remember it as a time that their parents, caregivers, teachers and friends were haired and crazy (….maybe a glimpse into my home….)?!?! Or, will they remember it as a time that those caring and loving adults around them took each day with a grain of salt, moved the mountains that were in the way and climbed those they couldn’t move?!?!?!
I sit here today wondering what this school year will be like for my own children. Questioning decisions made by state and local leaders. Wondering about the decisions made by myself and my husband. But, none of that questioning and wondering really does me any good. So, it’s time to give some advice and for me to take my own! The other day I posted a graphic on our Facebook page which talked about mindset. It really is all about mindset.
We don’t need all of the answers.
Teachers - we know you are learning as you go. You aren’t magicians and all-knowing wizards. Parents - they are learning as they go. Seriously, we’re all figuring this out together. Let’s give each other some grace.
Everything is figure out-able.
We might not have the answers today or tomorrow or next week. But we will figure it out. It’s okay. Did you know that it took Thomas Edison over 1000 tries to get the light bulb to work?!?! Had he given up the first time because he couldn’t figure it out, where would we be now?
My child, their teacher and I are on the same team.
Read that again. We are all in this together. We are all rooting for my children, your children, their children to succeed. If you think for one minute that your child’s teacher doesn’t want them to succeed, then you’re wrong. Imagine you, your child and their teacher all wearing the same spirit gear and tossing pom poms as your child learns something new each day.
We don’t know the full plan yet, but we will figure it out.
Simple enough. Every day. Grain of salt. Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. Move mountains.
Together we can do hard things.
We might not all be on the same boat, but we are in the same storm. If we rally together, put our heads together, work as a team, this hard thing will get done.
This is hard but we can work together for solutions.
Together we are better. Work together. Find the solutions. And, together we will celebrate the successes - YES - there will be successes!
I’m not being an eternal optimist or blowing roses and rainbows. I’m telling you about mindset and telling you about how our brains work. Each and every day our brain makes new cells. If we are constantly thinking about negative things, doubting the day and questioning actions, our new brain cells fill with that negative energy. If we do bicep curls for our brain, we can fill those new brain cells with positive thoughts and good useful energy. Oh, what’s a bicep curl for the brain? Glad you asked…every time you think a negative thought (one that’s not helpful, not kind and not true), say “stop (fill in your name)…and replace that thought with a positive one (one that IS helpful, kind and true). Then, your brain cells are filled with positive thoughts….filled with realistic thoughts.
Each day, each action, each thought must be taken with care. “So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life’s A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you’ll move mountains.”
My wish for you and your children is that you will have a challenging year - one that is filled with lessons learned, knowledge gained and growth beyond measure. Remember “sometimes the questions are complicated, but the answers are simple”.