What Stories do You Write in Your Mind?
“I’m bad”
“Why do you think you are bad?”
“My mom says I’m bad, my sister lives with her but I don’t because I’m bad”
“My aunt says I’m bad, she took my sister to Six Flags but not me because I’m bad. She doesn’t lie, so I know I’m bad”
“No, you are not bad, some of your actions are bad such as when you slugged . . . on the playground, but you also know h
ow to be good like when you helped . . .”
“I’m bad, my dad thinks so too. I live with him”
“No you aren’t bad, you are free to choose your actions”
A conversation I had with a disruptive 4 year old, years back while teaching pre-school. I’d spend time talking to him at naptime, he needed someone who’d listen.
Or
My son was shocked when he was working as a office aid at middle school, and one of the parents had to be pulled off the staff. She was very angry with the school because her child believe he could grow up and be a somebody. How dare they set up her child for a very big fall? He’d never amount to anything, she said. And the teacher kept teaching somebodies.
Hopes and dreams, some keep them burning very much alive, others don’t. How about you? What are you feeding your mind? do you care for others and help them believe in themselves? What is your story?
I thought it was cool to see the song/video Kody Bateman wrote for the 2007 SendOutCards convention. If you’d like to watch that video, let me know and I’ll send out a link.
Most importantly, what stories do you write in your mind? How do you influence other’s stories?
Sep 5th, 2007 at 10:20 am
Awww. That story of your little preschool guy makes me feel “bad” too. Why can’t people be forced to take a test before they can become parents?
I have this image burned in my mind, of two little boys and their “grandpa.” I was walking by their house and the grandpa was doing some kind of not-so-subtle mind trip on the boys, telling them they were bleeping idiots over and over for something they did. “Are you bleeping stupid??”
I remember watching the boys’ body language, the way they kept their eyes downward in a detached way, and kind of slowly pedaled their small bikes, their bodies leaning away from him as their little malleable minds took the blows.
I was enraged by this.
Sep 6th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Dina,
Every right to be enraged.
Reminds me of a business owner I know whose motto is “rule by fear!” He even has weekly “beat down sessions” for his staff, then wonders why he has such a high turn over, or why his employees don’t worship the ground he walks on.
Employees perform better in a positive environment. Even when I do work for a client on contract, the ones who are polite, respectful of my time and talent, praise my work and tell others, are the ones I want to do my best for.
I remember one guy years back who I was working with on an important project, I let him know that I could let a more experienced associate handle things. He told me “No!, this is very important to me and I want the best, that is why I want you to handle things” With a compliment like that, how could I do anything other than my best?!!
The good thing is we control our thoughts and minds. I was watching “Astronaut Farmer” with the kids last night. Farmer had a dream of being an astronaut. He was building his own rocket, many said he was crazy, ruining his life and that of his family, the government did not want him to launch. Yet he believed that everyone should follow their dreams and it was important to him that his family know that. When everything seemed to be going wrong, his family still believed and he followed his dream.
Only a movie, yet the movies we watch, influence our thoughts.