Teaching Gratitude In SEL Classes

 

As an Intervention Specialist one of my favorite SEL topics to teach is about gratitude on Thursdays. #thankfulthursdays

SMILE - Vernon Byrd

 

National Random Acts of Kindness Day

 

Pressing for the Mark

 

You can have the best intentions and still your plans do not turn out right. How do you move from that? How do you keep going?

The answer for me is to keep my eye on the goal at hand. Even when the goal seems unachievable and unreachable. But to be honest sometimes those days of unachievable and unreachable can be long, dark and just plain hard. Personally I have set some goals for myself that I thought I could obtain. I took all of the necessary steps to achieve the goal. It seems that right when I was at that point of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel the rocks fell and closed the other side of the tunnel.

I do pray! I do read my Bible! I do have faith!

Now I have to reevaluate if those marks that I wanted for myself are in the will of God's plan for my life. Is it possible that I am not wanting the things that God wants for me? Do I reach too low? Should I want to reach higher?

As I continue to press for the mark, I have to constantly question is the mark for me to be satisfied or for Him to pleased?

Lindar

(Originally posted 2.21.2009)

Zen Music, Relaxing Music, Calming Music, Stress Relief Music, Peaceful Music, Relax

 

I Finally Know - Boyz II Men

 

I Am Her!!

 

Today I did something I seldom do. I went shopping and it was hot. There were some quaint stores that I wanted to visit and they didn't disappoint me at all. While shopping in one store I came across a book entitled "I Am Her". I really did pick up the book and hug it. It was further confirmation for me that I finally know who she is.

This book is beautiful, serene and affirmative and it's blue. The color blue has been a blessing during my healing process. It's weird because my favorite color is lavender. My house is blue and my car is blue, I guess blue has always been there for me but I'm just realizing it. Kinda like I'm finally realizing that I am her!!!!!

(Originally posted on July 5, 2019)

Whitney Houston - Million Dollar Bill (Official Video)

 

Dear Whitney, I Get So Emotional Every Time I Think Of You (Originally Posted 3.14.12)

    I remember February 11 all too well. It is my brother’s birthday and it was also the day of a health and wellness event at our church. The previous day our church had a GoRed! Gala. Needless to say I was very tired when I got home. I passed out for many hours. As I struggled to get up later that evening I received a call from my niece about Whitney Houston. Now the need to get up was urgent. The texts and calls were coming through. Many I didn’t respond to. I was numb, stunned, emotional……

    Only last night did I pick up and read one of the many magazines I have purchased in memory of Whitney. They are sitting on the counter for me to glance at as I come and go throughout the house. For the very first time as I read about Whitney not one tear dropped. Whew! The article took me back to 1985, two years before I would graduate from high school. I remember hearing her sing for the first time and wishing I had the courage to use my voice to sing. She was like a part of me that I wished I was. A part of me that to this day still stays dormant.

    I was fortunate enough to see her when she came to Riverbend. Thinking back on that now, I just wanted to see Whitney Houston in concert and now I realize that I witnessed the beginning of an icon. One of my dreams when I was in school was to become a tour manager and to work with her. Now that never happened but it solidifies my adoration for her music early on. After her passing I had a person say to me, when was the last time you listened to a Whitney Houston song. Please believe that she is and has been in rotation since the beginning.

    While “How Will I Know” is my absolute favorite Whitney song. My favorite album has to be I’m Your Baby Tonight which contains the song “Miracle”. That song speaks volumes to many life experiences that I was going through at that time. I believe that is what her music did, speak volumes to her fans. So much so that after hearing “The Greatest Love of All” in 1992 I decided to name my son Alexander because I knew he would be great and so would my love for him. Years later I would go on to name my younger son Xander.

    I pray that Whitney’s spirit feels the overwhelming support of so many people who loved her so much and appreciated her. We all have flaws, we are all searching for the dream that makes us feel whole, and we all want to experience great love. In many ways, many of us are similar to Whitney Houston constantly searching out that which the Creator has already placed inside of us.

    The music of Whitney Houston is timeless and she was blessed to be given songs to sing that will forever hold meaning. Since February 11 I have listened to so many songs and had so many memories but there is one song I can’t listen to yet, one video I can’t view yet. I can’t manage to hear her sing learning to love yourself, is the greatest love of all… I get too emotional.

Every Role Informed the Other (Nothing Was Wasted)

 

What I thought was a company to help others share their stories became a deeper realization—that I am the bet, perfectly packaged, with nothing to prove.

    When I look at my life now, I no longer see fragmentation. I see formation. What once felt like too many roles, too many pauses, and too many pivots now reads as preparation. Mother, educator, writer, believer, survivor, each role shaped the next. None of them existed in isolation, and none of them were accidental.

    Being a mother taught me patience long before I ever named it as leadership. It taught me how to listen beneath words, how to respond instead of react, how to keep showing up even when I was tired. Being an educator sharpened my ability to translate complex ideas into language people can actually receive. Writing became the place where I processed what I couldn’t yet say out loud. Faith taught me how to trust seasons that didn’t make sense while I was living them and that all things work together for my good.

    Then came the roles I never asked for but still had to inhabit, patient, survivor, griever. Illness slowed me down in ways productivity never could. Recovery forced me to confront my limits. Grief stripped away any illusion of control. And still, even those roles informed the others. They deepened my compassion. They clarified my voice. They reshaped how I understand leadership, not as authority over others, but as stewardship of truth.

    At the time, it didn’t feel purposeful. It felt disruptive. Inconvenient. Like I was falling behind while everyone else was moving forward. But distance has a way of revealing design. What once felt like interruption now feels like instruction. The pauses weren’t gaps, they were classrooms. The lessons learned are invaluable. 

    This is why I no longer believe in wasted seasons. The work I do now is stronger because of everything that came before it. I can sit with people in uncertainty because I’ve lived there. I know fully the pain of rejection and what it's like to become ill and have to solely depend on others. I can guide others through storytelling because I’ve had to find language for my own becoming. I can lead without rushing because my life has taught me the cost of forcing outcomes.

    So when I say I am perfectly packaged, I don’t mean finished. I mean integrated. I mean whole. I mean I no longer need to separate who I’ve been from who I am becoming. The throughline was always there. I just couldn’t see it until I stopped trying to edit my life and started honoring it.