What a cracking start to the year! Joy and hope are two words that I have heard a lot of over the last three weeks. Joy – from having had time, time to sleep in, sleep late, spend with family and reconnect, spend doing nothing at all and just breathe. Hope for the year ahead – that we are working towards helping our students be the best they can be, that this will actually be somewhat of a normal year and that we will make great strides (or even small steps) in the right direction.
These are the stories that inspire me. Not the big ones. These little everyday stories all add up and create joy. And joy is a magnificent feeling.
Inspirational stories, stories of people overcoming great tragedy, great difficulties, and incredible sadness, are inspirational. They inspire us to keep going, to strive for more, to accept the cards we have been dealt and overcome them. I am sure we can all think of someone whose story inspired us, in whatever way, to be better, faster, more resilient, and steadfast in our pursuits. But, seriously, let’s face it – we are probably not ever going to win the Tour dé France, and we aren’t going to wind up at the summit of Mount Everest anytime soon unless, of course, that is something you’re training for.
What we can do is celebrate the little things.
We can celebrate the accomplishments of others, we can take something from their stories that will help us as we set about achieving our own goals and then we can take stock of our own wins and celebrate the crap out of those.
Part of setting ourselves up for success in our lives is to celebrate when we get something done, get it right, and make some progress rather than compare our lives with the big inspirational wins of others.
I’m working on changing my stories this year. Changing my focus so that I am looking at the little things more closely. Celebrating the stuff that goes well in a day, the relationships that I develop – one baby step at a time – and I am going to find joy in those little things.
Check out other articles Cassie has written here.