Freedom...you just have to choose

I read this quote today and really liked it. I live in America and just recently celebrated our Independence Day. It was amazing watching others get out and share their love of their homeland. I really enjoyed watching my children enjoy the parade and fireworks. We came together as visitors to a town I grew up in. The quoted individual is a new and upcoming young lady, Candace Owens. She really speaks for all people, especially those who live in America a place where it is said to be the land of the free and home of the brave.  She said, “In a truly free society, individuals are granted responsibility for themselves. Freedom necessitates that we learn how to provide for ourselves, contributing value in whatever form, to generate personal income. We then decide how we wish to spend or save earned income; freedom is the reward for fulfilling personal responsibilities." To truly be brave we must stand up for and follow a path that makes us proud to be who we are. 

I enjoyed this quote, this is what we as teachers and adults leading young children should be teaching. It is so important to be able to think freely, this is what God wants. As a believer in God I know that we are guided to do right, but also to take our lessons and follow our own path. I wish for others to be able to follow their own path as I have done for my life. I pray that our children and their children get to follow their own path and not one that is dictated to them. If knowledge is power I hope they gain enough knowledge to move forward and make decisions based on what they know and where they want to go from there.  

Do not continue to follow a path that does not make it easy to lay down and get a good rest at night. You can make a change in your life starting today, tomorrow, or the next morrow...There is no time like now, but you have to decide when you want to follow your path to happiness and success.

As a parent and teacher I spend my days educating children, the future leaders. I spend even more time educating my own children and taking down barriers. This is what teachers and leaders do all day long. The more we teach others the more barriers we break down. As a mother I do my best to help my children to see what it would be like to be in different situations including to live and feel as if they are in someone else's shoes, like living in different times, countries, and cultures. This teaches them how to tolerate differences by accepting them. Does this mean that my children have to change their beliefs? Not really, but they should tolerate others and theirs. Hellen Keller once said that the highest result of education is tolerance. I hope that I can help my own children to become tolerant of others. I also hope that I can teach my students about difference by not impeding on their own beliefs. I will never push information on someone's child that is un wanted and unaccepted. I have an important job, it is to teach lessons that help others achieve. So, though I will teach literacy, math, and science, I will also teach culture, and history, and geography in hopes to help others grow their own tolerance. I hope for you that you tolerate others. Do not let down your guard, this does not mean to allow mischief and malice in, it means to know right from wrong but to still treat others with the respect you wish to be treated with. 

Yet another quote that makes me think...

Albert Einstein stated "it is not that I am so smart, it is just that I stay with problems longer. What this means is that he spends times with his problems and finds a real solution. It is not simple to learn or get a good education, many of us experience many challenges during our education that others do not, which really adds to our education. For that matter, we experience life and that adds to what we learn. You really have to believe in yourself and never give up if you wish to learn. So I wish for you to stick it out and learn what you find interesting, and come by other knowledge on the way.  

Any Questions...

As a professional, with many different certifications, I feel that my strength is in finding how to help others no matter what they need. Does this mean I have answers, yes, all of the answers...nope. However, it does mean I will seek until I help you find peace. So, if you have any questions about mental health, education, art, and so on...ask me, lets see where we can take it. 

Advice is funny...

I think it is funny, advice we give and take. It is so interesting how we are such different beings that no matter what we need to know or hear can sound so different based on who tells us or how they tell us. The other really interesting and funny thing is that we can so easily give advice to others that we sometimes forget to take for ourselves. I wish you all the open-mindedness that you need to accept. Those that are open-minded are not concerned with being right, they just wish to learn and to help. Please know that this is why I write on this blog. I know there is no black and white in a situation. There are tons of gray areas and though I say make sure you are right and go for it, I mean, make sure it feels right to you. Understand and find peace and follow the advice that leads you in that direction. 

Live...Learn...-Gandhi

Live as if you were to die tomorrow.

Learn as if you were to live forever. 

Mahatma Gandhi

Edmund Burke

 When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.

Edmund Burke

Be You and Be Strong

There are many things that people say are important in life such as God and Family, others will argue that career is in there, and for some they are right. For those who do not wish to read because I said God that is okay but I will not apologize for having my belief in God as a stronghold and my love for my family to be my priority. I will say that is my right as I grew up in America, the free country, the place where so many seek refuge to be what they want. Sadly, as I have grown older and begun raising my children I have seen so many changes. So many people want to change this place of refuge and as a parent it is scary. I see so many changes that I do not wish to have pushed on others, yet, as a free country these are the things we have learned to accept. It is just disappointing that so much of what is happening in our country is saying we have to accept verses we are permitted to our own beliefs. 

I have and will never push my beliefs onto others but I will never give up on my beliefs for others. Reba McEntire has been quoted to say that to succeed in life you need three things: a wishbone, a backbone, and a funny-bone. She is and will always be right. I have faith that my beliefs and family will help me get through this life no matter the changes. We will dream together, stand strong together, and laugh together and I will not make apologies for who we are and how we live. Yet, I will try to raise my children to raise their children with strong morals and values. Though things in society change, that does not mean we have to alter who we are or our beliefs we do not even have to accept change. It will happen wether we will it or not. We can allow change to burden us or build us up. I choose to allow change to strengthen myself and my loved ones. We will learn from it, just as we have learned from history and the past. We will allow changes, good and bad, to make us stronger individuals. 

I think the less we worry about what others think about us, the easier it is to not worry about them, and to focus on our own needs within our intermediate life and family. As a mother I have learned that I cannot take care of my children if I do not take care of myself, does this mean that I put me first. Well, if we are honest, nope, I don't put me first all the time. I know that I am well, I am fed, clothed, and raised. I know that my moral compass is strong and aligned where it needs to be. So, I do put my kids first. I make sure their needs are taken care of first; when it comes to emotions, I put them first. However, I can do that now because I know who I am and I know I am taken care of and I was entrusted with them so I am going to put them first. I am going to help them reach a time in life where they know who they are, they are fed, housed, clothed, and comfortable and ready to take care of themselves. It is part of the reason I am on this earth. I am here to share what I know with my children, to the best of my ability. I am here to help them become strong members of society. I am currently their protector and I will do all I can do to give them all I know and seek more for them, in hopes that they become even stronger pieces of humanity that I am. 

Moving on or moving forward

Gandhi said it right when he said forgiveness is an attribute of the strong. Explains why sometimes it is so darn hard. We have to learn to forgive those around us who do wrong. Do we have to accept them and their differences or what they have done, no we do not. However, for our own sanity we have to learn to forgive or try our best to forget. It is funny how the mind works though. We tend to remember extremely emotional events, positive or negative. In many cases it is the negative that we reel over. Those are the ones we really should make peace with for our own health. When I have something happen that is even slightly off kilter creating a negative vibe, I run it over in my mind. Do you? We are trying to figure out why, how, and what we could have done. Sadly, those things are passed. We cannot rewind and do a retake. So, it is best to move on. Forget to the degree that it does not cause agita (as my mother called it when I was a child). I do want to suggest, as I always will, do not forget them so much you cannot learn from them. If you are part of the problem, change that and become part of the solution. If you see the problem, help create a solution. Yet, always for your own sake, when you are wronged, forgive. If not for those who wronged you do it for yourself. 

There have been many times I kept my mouth quiet about what my mind it reeling about. I know that I have opinions that differ from others, and as long as my family was not greatly impacted I did not speak of it. Then I realized that if I did not speak, it came back around and did have an impact. So as much as I have said in the past not to worry yourself of things and forgive or forget, I still think that it is important to stand up for what you believe and be proud to share what you know and who you are. This notifies others of differences and solutions so they can either accept or ignore (as I have advised you to do) yet it gets those thoughts out there into the world. The way to move forward is to make sure you are doing what is right in your heart, mind, and soul and then go for it. I have many times realized how hard it is to forgive people, even for the silliest things. When looking back, it has always been worth it to forgive and move on or move forward.

"The Right Place Values You The Right Way"

Know your own worth, you have value and it is visible, others will see it and it will shine brighter after you yourself realize it. 

I read the following articles many times, they all say the same thing a little different. The lesson is still the same. You do have value, we all do. We just need to know it and take charge of our own power. Following your own path, or speaking out can be difficult but refreshing and freeing. Follow any of the links but know their path is the same. Something to think about. 

The Right Place Values You 

Never Stay in a Place Where No One Sees Your Value  

Dont Find Yourself in the Wrong Place

Sometimes, we are in a place where others know we have value and if feels as though we are held back, this happens to many good people. Please know you are not alone and do what you can to remember that you will find your path, it will come and you will get where you want to go. Do not doubt yourself because you are just on a stepping stone, trying to cross or find the fork in the road that leads to where you really want to go. Believe that you have what it takes, you will eventually find your wings. Sometimes things take time, not all birds take flight the first time out of the nest. Just because you can, doesn't always mean that the timing is right. Sometimes the saying that good things come to those who wait, really is true. Sometimes, things are not meant to be exactly as we want or plan or when we want. However, I believe, as you should, that you can follow your dreams and be successful. Life's roads comes with lots of twists and turns, these lessons will make us stronger. I do believe that change is inevitable and necessary, not all change is good, but not all change is bad. It is important to know what path to follow, make sure you are comfortable with your path and move forward with confident strides.