Spring is a time when we think of growth, change, and new beginnings. At this season, I often find myself amazed at the sudden bursts of colors, sounds, and smells in the natural environment. Each day, I start the morning by walking through my garden and am overwhelmed by the new shoots of green that sprout up overnight. In observing them, I am reminded of the new start that every day offers us in our roles as parents and professionals. Each day we have the unique opportunity to approach our challenges with optimism and to treat our children, students, and co-workers with respect. We can erase old negative impressions and replace them with brighter, more upbeat images of who we are. As the most important individuals in our children’s lives, we can be models of tolerance and support.
Too often parents and teachers find themselves locked into the same self-defeating patterns with particular children. Lowered expectations, anger, and disappointment mount and build barriers to communication. As a result, children lose their sense of connectedness to important adults in their lives and, thus, become more entrenched than ever in those patterns of behaviors which so alienate the grownups around them. With each day that passes, the walls between child and adult grow higher and more difficult to see over. This is so important to understand because we all serve as mirrors for children. Those youngsters who are still developing their self-images can be particularly wounded by a barrage of negative perceptions from others. As adults, we can choose to reflect back images which foster either self-confidence or self-loathing.
Today, we can start the new day with a promise to be more accepting and compassionate. As role models we can demonstrate a positive, “can do” attitude. We can accept that every dawn provides every child with a chance to start afresh, leaving yesterday’s old business where it belongs. We can begin again with patience and determination.
At the same time, because it is a new day for us too, we can allow ourselves the gift of rededicating ourselves as parents and professionals. We can choose to allow ourselves to be imperfect, to make mistakes and not dwell upon them. And then, just maybe, we will choose to slow down a bit, sit awhile in the sun, and watch the green shoots unfurl.
For more information please call Ramona Hall at 661-268-1833 or visit www.CompassionatesolutionsSCV.com .