"Super Nanny" is super

Now, I don't have kids, but I do teach them, and I have to say that there are two sources I have encountered that seem to have good ideas about discipline, strategies, and how to create productive, peaceful environments with and for children. These two resources are the television show "Super Nanny" and the book Have a New Kid by Friday by Kevin Leman. Time and time again, Jo Frost (the star nanny of "Super Nanny") gives strategic tactics, demonstrates successfully how to transform a chaotic household, and consistently maintains patience and calm regardless of the situation. I love that she does not believe in spanking and encourages parents to spend quality time with their children, engage them, get them excited about things, encourage their growth, and create loving bonds with them. Overall, I think she rocks and even I (a woman with no children) have learned so much from her!

In Have a New Kid by Friday, Dr. Kevin Leman outlines a set of strategies to use when running a household with children, all which have similar results and goals to those of Jo Frost. The show "Super Nanny" tends to lend itself towards households with younger children, whereas Leman's book seems to discuss overall strategies that can be used at any age. Also, being that Have a New Kid by Friday is a book, you get a sort of instruction manual that covers a wealth of information in one place and tells you, step by step, what actions to take. It also includes a bunch of common questions with answers for you to refer to whenever necessary. I kept my copy after reading it so that I could refer to it as needed.  However, the show gives tons of fun tips, information on child-rearing such as potty training, etc., and shows how a family uses strategies to transform.  You can watch them in action, actually see how the children react, and basically see the strategies modeled for you.

If you are looking for ways to improve your interaction with children, I highly recommend checking out both resources!

Donate to Japan

If you are considering donating to Japan, Direct Relief International and AmeriCares seem to be great organizations. If you are unsure of what organization to donate to, the website Charity Navigator has great statistical information and ratings on a list of charities that are currently aiding Japan. This can help you make the best choice of who to donate to so that the maximum amount of your donation goes directly to those in need.

How could you not feel happy after hearing this?

What's playing on my screen and out of my speakers is "You're So Beautiful" by the Pat McGuire Band.

Again

I think I may be getting sick again. I spent nine days recovering from something, had a breather of about four days, and am now battling something again. I'm taking Zicam Chewables, dissolving Oscillococcinum on my tongue, ate spicy food for dinner, decided not to push myself so canceled exercising, am drinking tons of fluids, and am determined to get A LOT of sleep tonight. I have a few theories as to why I may be getting sick:

1. My immune system was still weak from being sick a week ago.

2. Yesterday morning on the train to work, a man was standing right in front of me as I was seated and kept coughing right down on me, without covering his mouth. I tried to sort of bend over and hide my face, but there really was nowhere to hide.

3. I tutor two young boys every Wednesday (last night). They sit on either side of me and talk very close to my face the whole two hours, touching my water bottle, grabbing my arm, and just generally being kids around me. They are in such close proximity to me for over two hours in one sitting that if they have ANY germs on them or don't wash their hands, I'm sure they find their way to me somehow and make me a goner.

4. I work in a grade 6-12 school. Enough said with that one.
 
5. I have been getting seven hours or (usually) less of sleep per night.

6. I have been snacking before bed.

7. I believe I am getting sick, which is probably actually making me sick. (The mind is a powerful thing!)

Of course it could be a few of these combined as well. Whatever the cause, let's just hope that when I wake up tomorrow - it's gone!

Reach towards the light

Right now, what's playing on my screen and out of my speakers is "Let Go" by Lindsay McCaul.

It'll all be perfect then

The last six years of my life have consisted of an amount of growth I was not sure I was capable of until after it occurred. I realized that happiness comes from within, not without. With that conceptual understanding, these past years have been about slowly really comprehending fully what that means, and aligning my being and life with that reality. The reality that happiness is being one with God, the light that is the true us. Everything else can be used as an opportunity to either move closer to God, or further away and perhaps the hope that we will use it to move closer to God is what it is all here for.

With this life-altering realization, I was never the same. I also understood that my whole reality was askew. I was on the constant search for something that would make me finally feel the happiness I had always craved. I'll be happy when I lose twenty pounds. I'll be happy when I fall in love with the one of my dreams. I'll be happy when I get away from my family. I'll be happy when I move to New York City. I'll be happy when I'm famous. I'll be happy when? It was a question I was always trying to answer, but could never find the answer to.

So, after the most significant spiritual experience of my life, I thought that I had broken the spell. I knew that there was no "I'll be happy when." Happiness was now, I knew. It's interesting though... A discovery can feel so urgently potent and uniquely wise. It can feel like you have found the answer. The funny thing is that there is often more.

Granted, some earthly human souls seem to have a moment of enlightenment, and then understand what can't be made to understand. However, most of us seem to have a slower journey, and I am one of those souls. I thought that I knew what mattered. I couldn't express it, but the fact was that I realized somewhere deep inside of me (that didn't have a place) that no "thing" mattered. It felt like the deepest form of love was all that there truly was in the world. It was this deep love for everything. Everyone. The volcanoes, earthquakes, angry people on the train, screaming teenagers, bills. All of it. Everything just seemed to be and any other reactions disappeared. Everything made me smile because somehow I felt that only love was real, though I couldn't explain it, and don't come close to doing it now.

Although that experience did not propel me into that state permanently, that moment of clarity and understanding did place me on a spiritual journey that I am so grateful for. The moment of recognition is still within me, and lesson after lesson, I feel that I am moving further and further towards light and permanent inner peace.

Time to move to the next level

Right now, what's playing in my mind and out of my speakers is "53 Steps" by Rachel Platten.

Sometimes I feel like I'm in a matrix

Reading Eckart Tolle's book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, has rocketed me back into my spiritual existence. I realize that it's helpful for me to consistently engage myself in some sort of tool for spiritual development in order to keep me on the right path. I was engrossed in the pages all afternoon today and kept thinking that I had read the best thing again and again, earmarking what ended up being almost twenty pages!

Sometimes I feel like I'm walking around in a matrix. During these times I understand that I am a spiritual being, connected with all and one with all, and everything else I see and think about in this material world is clearly not reality (ie: a matrix). But then, there are those times where I am totally identified with that world (I suppose that would be the ego) and I lose my real "self".

While reading this book today, I realized that this no longer need confuse me. I am slowly trying to pull myself from unconsciousness, further and further towards full consciousness, and the process is totally okay and to be expected, so long as I keep moving forward. In fact, the realization that I move back and forth between these two states would seem to indicate an understanding of when I am identifying with the ego or when I am, alternately, identifying with spirit. With this fundamental realization, I can try to identify with spirit even more and leave the ego behind.

Some music is worth staying up late for

Right now, what's playing in my mind and out of my speakers is "Against the Wind" by Bob Seger...

...and "Have a Little Faith" by John Hiatt.

It's two hours past my bedtime

Is it weird to say that sometimes lately I feel like I’m grieving for the world? I have to remember that despair can give way to spiritual discovery. Everything happens for a reason, right? Certain things seem so unnecessary to me for learning...but maybe that’s because I moved out of my deepest personal despair. When I was in that place, I lamented over myself AND the world. Perhaps despair is a precursor to surrender to God. I pray for Japan. I pray for the Middle East. I pray for them, for us, for all.