Yesterday I had the privilege of attending WELC (Women in Educational Leadership Conference). It was zoomed of course, but an incredible experience nonetheless. I wanted to share this week about the two most important takeaways for me, with hope that they impact you as much as they impacted me.
Make moments for people. Right now we are still in this weird, messy time period where we aren't traveling or making memories like we ordinarily would. For example, this week I am really missing the Tulsa State Fair. Yes, a mini-fair was held, but it was not the same. My favorite food vendors weren't there (I love the ginormous pretzels with cheese and apple/caramel sundaes!). Many people, myself included, are grieving this loss. At the conference yesterday, I fell in love with the idea of making moments. We all know that life isn't really about the big memories, it is about the slew of small moments that define us! When is the last time you went out of your way to make an ordinary moment, extraordinary?
Determine the 3 steps you need to be strong. According to the presenters, who were phenomenal, to increase your inner strength, you first need to acknowledge what your inner strengths are (I call them signature strengths, and I wrote a blog post about this not too terribly long ago!). The second step is to identify the negativity that is tearing these inner strengths down, and the last step is to find the right allies to counteract the negativity. I feel like I have talked about all three of these steps before, but have never put the all together in an effort to combat how I personally feel about the condition of the world right now. I know I have strengths, in fact, we all know we do, but have we taken the time to acknowledge not only what is fighting against us, but we need to fight back?
How can you incorporate both of these important takeaways into your life? I know for me, I am going to take the time to make the ordinary moments extraordinary. For example, tonight my daughter cheers at a football game. Because of coronavirus, she only gets to cheer 3 times this year. So tonight, I am going to make it special for her. Being short on time, I may take her out to dinner in her uniform afterwards, but I am going to make a deal about it and honor her. My husband and two of his best friends are replacing the starter in my car, how can I make that moment special for them? Even routine things like bedtime, dinner, and mornings, all have the potential to become incredible moments that the people I love will remember forever.
Since I am comfortable in knowing what my signature strengths are, it is important for me to identify the negativity that tears into my strength. This one is very personal for me, and I plan to nurture the relationships in my life that have become my "negativity allies." Perhaps lunches and coffee, and maybe little surprises to know how much I value them and how important they are in my life. Because they are far more important than I probably ever give them credit for.
In many ways, these two things even fit together... I am looking forward to changing my mindset in the weeks to come and hope you plan to join me!
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