New Years Resolution - Being Mindful

Now is the time of the year when you start hearing about everyone's New Year Resolution. Most of the ones you see on social media revolve around getting in shape or committing to a diet. While I am all for improving yourself physically, I don't believe any of these things can happen unless you train your mind first. My good friend Darrin Peppard, a fellow 2017 Principal of the Year from Wyoming, recently tweeted out that his #oneword for #2017 is FOCUS. I think this is a laudable goal and I would like to take a twist on it. This year, I plan on FOCUSING my efforts on being #mindful.

I've written before about focusing on what we want to BE before we focus on what we want to DO and I think this has a lot to do with being #mindful. Too often in education do we get caught up with all the initiatives being thrown at us that we sometimes forget about the here and now and all the cool things that are happening right in the very moment. We were called to education because we love children and enjoy watching them grow into awesome human beings. In the process of this growth, we see their failures and we sometimes choose to only focus on these issues with an aim to correct. Instead, shouldn't we be #mindful of the fact that these failures are how children learn and grow?

I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of always trying to fix things and make them right. I've learned, however, that things have a way of working out if we are intentional and purposeful in our pursuit. If we are pure in heart and can change our mindset to understand that the here and now is only one small step toward growth, we can take a tremendous step forward in decluttering our mind.

As we enter the new year, the challenge is clear. Let's be #mindful of what the job of a teacher really is. Let's take time EACH HOUR of every school day and focus on the moment. @MindfulOnline gives us a really cool and easy Mini-Mindful Challenge that I would encourage us all to take part in for at least a week. I have already accepted the challenge and it is amazing what can happen when you focus on the moment for just a few short seconds each hour. Doing so will not only help you mentally and physically, but your students, colleagues, friends, and family members will thank you for it as well because you won't be so stressed all the time. Let's make 2017 the year of being #mindful. Our school's need it.