Keep Calm and Carry On…

We use daily reminders like this mug to keep things in perspective.

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When our children were young I reminded them, “It’s not just, ‘you are what you eat.’ It’s also what you think, say, and do.”

Rather than allowing them to surround themselves with music and images of violent behavior unsupervised, we looked for opportunities to take our children to museums, community events, and plays.  We read aloud as a family. Works by recognized “great” authors and those who were emerging – like Douglas Adams. Rather than simply stopping with The Wizard of Oz, we obtain copies of the other books by Frank Baum and would take turns reading these books out loud to each other.

One of our children was particularly affected by the novel To Kill a Mockingbird and talked about it with ConiAnn for weeks.

It was moving to see each of them reading when it was their turn, evoking a feeling similar to being part of their first baby steps. And when a child had a revelation because of the material, we would talk about what they felt, what they learned, and how it might apply to our lives.

We did not limit ourselves to books. If we found something we all enjoyed like Tom Sawyer, or The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, after we were done with the books we would order audio recordings from our library. And if we really liked it, we would look for movies or  documentaries to further round out our exposure and understanding of the subject.

Our boys did not follow my advice perfectly. For example, one of them developed a love of horror films; a genre which I have never learned to embrace.

Still, the exposure they had to the virtues of the characters we studied and the subjects we explored through fictional and historic figures broadened their horizons, developing in them life-long learning habits which serve them well when life presents its challenges.

Through our readings and other media, they learned it is possible to reach beyond a person’s grasp and grow into a space where it is possible to achieve their goals.

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What do you surround yourself with? What kinds of:

• Material Things?
• Music?
• Activities?
• Stories (from your life and from media) ?
• Self-Talk
• People (family/friends/co-workers) ?

When your life enters a challenging episode do any of the above speak to your higher potential? Do any of the hold you back, or worse, take you down?

We really are all visitors here. When you are done and it’s time to return home, what kind of story will you tell the universe?

What story do you want to tell?

– Jeffrey A. Limpert

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References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_Calm_and_Carry_On

Image Information:

Keep Calm and Carry On

By Jeffrey A. Limpert