Talk about a noisy mind! I chuckled at that. Since starting the gratitude journal, and reading your posts, I do silent meditation most days and when I feel myself ramping up, I consciously slow down and breathe. It works!
Susan ... so happy to hear this. I'm working at making time for this ... don't always get to the quiet mind stage but always feel slower and more peaceful. Hope your holidays are filled with joy and delight.
As a teacher, we had many exciting in-services, and one was particularly surprising. Through time we had all taken personality tests to gain a better perspective on , not only ourselves, but to help us understand how we interact with each other and students.. but this particular one was very different. This test gave the person a series of alpha characters and when the leader announced this particular series, we had to go to one of two corners of the room. My corner held about 90% of the teachers, and it was the introvert corner. It also held the coaches and drama teachers who were considered to be extroverts by those around them. The admin was very surprised. I guess many of us were a combination or, could be extroverts when need be.
Susan ... I used to facilitate exercises like that and loved the conversations that happened after people could see diversity in action. While all forms of diversity are important, the diversity of how we see and react to the world was always particularly interesting to me. Thanks for sharing.
Confidence can come from remembered rescues, as well as from personal accomplishments. I recall a fax proclaiming the dismissal of a law suit. I recall a cab driver seeing us home from the emergency room after a mugging. I remember a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge to an overdue, therapeutic vacation. I remember an unexpected job offer that paid of my grad school debt. These memories of saving grace live in my Confidence Cottage.
Good point. Recognizing the helpers who have showed up in important times in our lives is definitely a confidence boosters. I remember arriving late at night in an unfamiliar town in Mexico with a cab driver who spoke no English (and I no Spanish) and we couldn't find the address. Neither of us had a functioning phone and I was beginning to get very nervous when out of the dark night walked a woman dressed all in white, including a snow white turban. She walked up to the cab, looked at me and said, "May I help you?" And, she did.
A friend told me about a job with the MS State Medical Assn, I was about twenty, my two, short lived previous jobs were as receptionist, and I applied the job was a clerk typist sending out form letters for missing information on claim forms. I was a poor typist but was soon moved into the job as a claims processor. We also talked to the members, it was insurance for active and retired military, and I had a gift for that. One day, the director stopped y my desk in the pool with a letter from a retired General, praising my knowledge and professionalism in dealing with his issue. This just didn’t happen. I still have that letter that gave me such confidence. When Blue Cross was awarded the contract seven years later, I was hired as the first woman Provider Relations. Rep and later became a Director over half the claims department. Why was I successful? Because I found something I really enjoyed and I took the risks as they presented.
Wow, Susan ... great story. Glad you kept that letter ... it's a perfect gratitude story for reviewing periodically. Neuroscience studies show that periodically revisiting a significant gratitude that you received, powerfully stimulates "feel good" chemicals. Thanks for sharing your story.
Talk about a noisy mind! I chuckled at that. Since starting the gratitude journal, and reading your posts, I do silent meditation most days and when I feel myself ramping up, I consciously slow down and breathe. It works!
Susan ... so happy to hear this. I'm working at making time for this ... don't always get to the quiet mind stage but always feel slower and more peaceful. Hope your holidays are filled with joy and delight.
What a lovely story and invitation. Thank you! A harp meditation sounds like the perfect start to next week.
Hope to see you there on Monday. And wishing you the best of holidays.
As a teacher, we had many exciting in-services, and one was particularly surprising. Through time we had all taken personality tests to gain a better perspective on , not only ourselves, but to help us understand how we interact with each other and students.. but this particular one was very different. This test gave the person a series of alpha characters and when the leader announced this particular series, we had to go to one of two corners of the room. My corner held about 90% of the teachers, and it was the introvert corner. It also held the coaches and drama teachers who were considered to be extroverts by those around them. The admin was very surprised. I guess many of us were a combination or, could be extroverts when need be.
Susan ... I used to facilitate exercises like that and loved the conversations that happened after people could see diversity in action. While all forms of diversity are important, the diversity of how we see and react to the world was always particularly interesting to me. Thanks for sharing.
Confidence can come from remembered rescues, as well as from personal accomplishments. I recall a fax proclaiming the dismissal of a law suit. I recall a cab driver seeing us home from the emergency room after a mugging. I remember a drive across the Golden Gate Bridge to an overdue, therapeutic vacation. I remember an unexpected job offer that paid of my grad school debt. These memories of saving grace live in my Confidence Cottage.
Good point. Recognizing the helpers who have showed up in important times in our lives is definitely a confidence boosters. I remember arriving late at night in an unfamiliar town in Mexico with a cab driver who spoke no English (and I no Spanish) and we couldn't find the address. Neither of us had a functioning phone and I was beginning to get very nervous when out of the dark night walked a woman dressed all in white, including a snow white turban. She walked up to the cab, looked at me and said, "May I help you?" And, she did.
A friend told me about a job with the MS State Medical Assn, I was about twenty, my two, short lived previous jobs were as receptionist, and I applied the job was a clerk typist sending out form letters for missing information on claim forms. I was a poor typist but was soon moved into the job as a claims processor. We also talked to the members, it was insurance for active and retired military, and I had a gift for that. One day, the director stopped y my desk in the pool with a letter from a retired General, praising my knowledge and professionalism in dealing with his issue. This just didn’t happen. I still have that letter that gave me such confidence. When Blue Cross was awarded the contract seven years later, I was hired as the first woman Provider Relations. Rep and later became a Director over half the claims department. Why was I successful? Because I found something I really enjoyed and I took the risks as they presented.
Wow, Susan ... great story. Glad you kept that letter ... it's a perfect gratitude story for reviewing periodically. Neuroscience studies show that periodically revisiting a significant gratitude that you received, powerfully stimulates "feel good" chemicals. Thanks for sharing your story.