Can you believe it’s November?! It’s like I blinked and November is here! Already seeing Christmas decorations! Yes, that’s how we roll in Texas! Dropping in to kick off thanksgiving since that’s just around the corner. It has been so enriching meeting many educators new and old across the nation and state. From training sessions to conferences, I have enjoyed our time of learning and shifting together.
Some of you might remember a while back when I shared about keeping a “gratitude journal.” I hope your journal is now full and you are on a second, third or even fourth gratitude journal. This year alone, I have used up three gratitude journals and on my fourth one. There is so much to be thankful for when our minds are set on the beauty in and around us. Growing up, my grandmother had a favorite saying, “Those who are filled with gratitude have no room for complaining.” This is right on point, since we can only be filled with one or the other and not both.
Being filled with gratitude is a choice and a lifestyle. We can choose to set our minds and gaze on futile things or we can choose to set our minds and gaze on worthy things. We get to decide which well to draw from. It’s either the “well of gratitude” or the “well of complaining.”
We have made it past snapshot date, so for many educators the challenges are beginning to set in. However, we still have the choice on what we will be filled with amidst all the challenges. Masters of this lifestyle know it becomes much easier to see the worthy things once we set out on the roadway to gratitude. Will we see the potential in that student or the challenge of his/her behavior in the classroom? Will we see the privilege to influence a generation for greater or will we see the challenge of a toxic culture? Choosing to see the beauty sets the thermostat of our minds and hearts on automatic.
Before all the busyness of the holiday season begins, choose which well you are going to draw from. Choose what and where you will set your mind and gaze on. A mind and gaze set on gratitude is unshakable, unstoppable, unmovable, and satisfying. Choose wisely your well! Until I drop in again, have a wonderful fulfilling time giving thanks! Love & Blessings!
“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good”- 1 Chronicles 16:34a.