Friday, August 21, 2015

The Power of Choice and Improvement

There is a saying I heard I do not know how many times, but it still rings true:

There are three types of people,

-People who make things happen
-People who watch things happen
-People who wondered what happened
Author Unknown

Regarding this new school year, there is no need to merely hope to have another year of growth and improvement.  Experience and learning from other wise people and observing research and proven practices has led us to an invariable action we do daily - choose to get better!  And this year, we rest our focus on improving the most important area of our lives and our work: our attitudes.

Dr. Charles Swindoll has written an outstanding definition of attitude.  He mentions in this short poem that attitude is principal - he equates it to "everything."  And, he mentions that attitude is a choice - we choose our attitudes daily.  The message is that we can choose our attitude daily.

Another powerful principal from this poem is expressed:

"I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our Attitudes."(Swindoll, 2006)

If our attitudes are based on choice, and if 90% of our attitudes depend on how we react to what happens around us, and if we choose the right attitudes daily, we are bound for a great year!  Is that always easy?  The short answer is no, but with persistence and developing habits toward developing the improvements of our attitudes and outlooks, changing our attitudes is doable.  The hope is we can endeavor to improve in this capacity, and with our collective efforts we will.

Our mission is we are relentless to create an environment for all to improve, mind, character and body.  I am convinced more than ever this mission is dependent upon growing our attitudes first and foremost because of the effects our attitudes have on the well being and success of our students!

We can genuinely say this year, "we collectively made it happen" because we choose today, tomorrow  and the next day and the next day . . . . .



"Charles R. Swindoll Quotes." Charles R. Swindoll Quotes (Author of The Grace Awakening). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2015.