2/24/20, Courage, Integrity, and Gratitude
Hi Everyone,
I hope you had a good week, and things are going well for you!!!
I had a fun experience recently, I was invited to visit a high school in the States. Schools aren’t always happy memories for me—-I enjoyed my own school days, but I taught high school seniors for 3 years, in my early 20’s. I taught creative writing, and I was only five years older than my students, and it was very challenging. I looked like one of the kids, and they treated me like one. It was very embarrassing—-I could never keep order in the classroom!!! I had the most unruly classroom in the school. I think I was just too young, and barely out of school myself. I was already writing at the time I taught, since I wrote my first book at nineteen. I would write my books at night after I taught. And my teaching experience finally convinced me to write full time, and give up other jobs. (I had worked as a copywriter in advertising and as a translator before that. But writing was my passion.)
But despite my sketchy history as a teacher (I always admire teachers—-it is NOT an easy job, and a very important one), I REALLY enjoyed my high school visit recently. I was impressed by how grown up the students seemed these days, how open the teachers are with the students, and how strong the relationship is between faculty and kids. I had a strong sense of mutual respect between the adults and ‘kids’. I was particularly impressed by the values they try to instill in the students, and they focused particularly on two: Courage and Integrity. It struck me as I listened to the headmaster speak, that with those two qualities, one is armed for life. Integrity is so vital, I seek it in the people I am close to, in the people I work with, work for, and those who work for me. I look for it in my relationships, I admire it in others, and I write about it. I think integrity is one of the great virtues. And “courage” is the perfect ‘partner value’ for integrity. Because you need courage to have integrity, to do the right thing, no matter how hard the circumstances. It’s sometimes very hard to do the right thing, and you need courage to be the lone voice of integrity at times, when others don’t agree with you, or want to take a short cut into sketchy waters to get what they want. As I sat there listening, I realized what an important lesson they are teaching at that school, arming the students with two qualities which will serve them well for life. It’s a lesson we could all be reminded of, and would serve us well.
The headmaster also spoke of ‘gratitude’, which I talk and write about. Especially in hard times, gratitude is so important. It’s a good thing to be grateful every day, to stay aware of the blessings in our life. But when the going gets tough, when things aren’t going well, when we feel we’ve missed out, been treated badly, lost something we cared about, or seem to have a run of bad luck, it’s even more important to try and be grateful for one thing every day, or five things, or anything we can. (I remember at one time when everything seemed to be going wrong in my life, on one day the only thing I could think of to be grateful for were my shoes, which were new, red, and kind of cute. The rest of my life seemed like a mess!!) Gratitude turns things around, changes our perspective and reminds us that even if we’re not happy with our current situation, or life, or job, or home, or relationship, there is something to be grateful for. And usually, if you can bring yourself to be grateful, even a little bit, things start to turn around, and the way you see things changes and the situation starts to improve. I always find that gratitude is the ‘grease’ that makes life work, especially when you feel stuck in a bad place.
So my brief visit to high school turned out to be elevating for me, lifted my thought and my spirits and my attitude. What lucky kids they are to be in such an enlightened school!!! And how lucky I was to be invited for a visit. It was a great reminder of what really matters in life. And those students I visited are getting a great start in life!!
Have a great week, filled with good people, fun times, and happy surprises!!!
love, Danielle
Leave a Comment
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
As I read your blog, Danielle,I found myself praying that my great grandchildren would be in schools where courage, integrity, and gratitude were taught as part of the curriculum. I believe another very important attribute is humility. The psychology of self esteem reigns in our culture. When we interact with a person who is showing humility,we hear that they have been told “don`t put yourself down” or ” you need self esteem”. Humility is no longer a desirable trait to have. I compliment you, Danielle !!! Even with your immense success, you show humility.To witness a life lived with humility is oh so beautiful!!! There is a vast amount of Scripture telling us to be humble-” esteem others more highly than yourself.”
Looking forward to your March book release, Bonnie
Yes! Finally something about primal grow pro.
Also visit my web site primal grow pro review
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging
on websites I stumbleupon on a daily basis. It’s always
exciting to read content from other writers and use something from their sites.
ini adalah situs bokep paling bagus
After I initially left a comment I appear to have clicked
the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I
receive 4 emails with the same comment. Perhaps there is a
means you can remove me from that service? Thank you!
Howdy! I just want to offer you a huge thumbs up for the excellent information you have right here on this post.
I am returning to your site for more soon.
Unleash the Power of Listening A vital skill in becoming an effective communicator is the ability to listen. Listening skills are not taught in school, and sadly are largely undeveloped skill in many people. To listen effectively i [read more..]
Bad Credit And Home Refinance – How To Save Money To determine how bad credit impacts your refinancing options, consider whether your credit was better, worse, or about the same when you originally financed your home. If your credit was better and he [read more..]
Do Forensic Nurses Have to Take The Certification Exam To Help Victims of Sexual Assault A lot of people think that after taking the required courses, the only thing stopping you from becoming a forensic nurse is the certification exam. Those who have taken it say that the exam itself is [read more..]
Seaside Paradise The folks at the Sanibel Harbour Spa are serious about relaxation. Their 40,000-square-foot spa is devoted entirely to revitalizing frazzled nerves in a calming seaside setting. They carry the tranqui [read more..]
Legal Pitfalls of Arranging a Mortgage Copyright 2006 Tracey AndersonA mortgage is often the biggest commitment a person undertakes, and one should take time to consider all of the legal and financial details before diving head-first into [read more..]
Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted
to say that I’ve truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.
After all I will be subscribing to your rss feed and I hope you
write again soon!
Post writing is also a fun, if you be acquainted with then you
can write if not it is difficult to write.
Simply want to say your article is as surprising. The clearness in your post is simply cool and i can assume you’re an expert on this subject.
Fine with your permission allow me to grab your feed to keep
up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the enjoyable work.
Tennis For Beginners If you ever ceased really thinking of the play and the sport of tennis you would return account soon which it is not that hard of a sport and the majority of the people can learn how to play it. There [read more..]
Children Learning To Play Golf Children are learning golf in school. Most schools recognize golf as a sport and have golf teams. They teach the kids the art of golfing with instructional videos and professional lessons. Parents som [read more..]
How to Find and Buy Foreclosures When looking for information pertaining to foreclosures, you will find a lot of information for homeowners who are on the verge of losing their homes. This is nice, but you may be on the other side o [read more..]
Special Schools for Special Kids If you are a parent of a special needs child, you know something that the public schools either dont know or they refuse to recognize. And that is any special need can be accommodated and worked arou [read more..]
Architectural Roofing Shingles Since the introduction of new roofing materials, architects, builders and homeowners are constantly in search for versatile and inexpensive shingles with combined aesthetic value of traditional roofing materials such as ced Construction manufacturers reacted to this demand by coming up with mounting array of architectural roofing shingles.Nowadays, an increasing number of residential owners prefer architectural roofing s [read more..]
Pig The Pig may be the most generous and honorable Sign of the Chinese Zodiac. Pigs are nice to a fault and possess impeccable manners and taste. They are perfectionists and can be perceived them as snobs [read more..]
The Secrets to Winning at Paintball Most team sports require teamwork, skill and planning. This can be seen in the winning teams of sports like basketball, football and hockey. The same approach can be taken to make a very good paintbal [read more..]
Aspartame and Bad Breath Have you heard or read about the issues on aspartame and bad breath Well, you may find this unbelievable though as aspartame is one of the most commonly used ingredients in some chewing gums and mints that are deemed to reduce bad breath. Unfortunately, that is not w [read more..]
How to Retain Janitorial Workers Copyright 2006 The Janitorial StoreDue to the nature of the cleaning business it can be hard to keep good employees. Your good employees may be lured away by competitors, leave for a "regular&qu [read more..]
I’m really impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your weblog.
Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself?
Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to
see a great blog like this one nowadays.
Hey there! Someone in my Facebook group shared this website with us
so I came to check it out. I’m definitely enjoying
the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers!
Outstanding blog and terrific design and style.
What’s up to every one, the contents present at this web site are actually remarkable for people knowledge,
well, keep up the nice work fellows.
western union moneygram ria money transfer
Hey there! I know this is kind of off topic
but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site?
I’m getting fed up of WordPress because I’ve had issues
with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform.
I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good
platform.
Devine Your Duty with SEO Technique The process of improving a website for higher search engine rankings is termed as Search engine optimization. Search Engine Optimization is the first step that is very effective in getting higher rank [read more..]
How The Equipment Has Changed There are many different opinions as to whatmachines should actually be classified as earthmoving equipment. There are many different typesof equipment that fall in this category, such asexcavators, [read more..]
BlueHost – Changing the Way You View Web Hosting There are a lot of web hosting companies out there that offer you many great things, but very few of them come through for you when you need them. However, there are a few web hosting companies out th [read more..]
Toner ink jet cartridges and ways to save money Tired of the high cost of printing? Youre not alone, Many people are . For example, they believe paying 20 per small cartridge for printer ink and 70 to 150 (or more) for a toner cartridge is way too [read more..]
Obesity In Children Obesity is a condition that can shorten your life and can seriously affect you mentally and physically. It often has its roots in childhood. Obesity in children is growing at a frighteningly fast rate [read more..]
How Stress Effects Your Body And Brain And What To Do About It Which of these is stress? You receive a promotion at work. Your car has a flat tire. You go to a fun party that lasts till 6:00 a.m. Your dog gets sick. Your new bedroom set is being delivered. Your b [read more..]
You Don’t Have To Quit Your Job – To Be Your Own Boss I'm constantly seeing articles about how you should quit your job and start your own business. I wont' argue with that — being your own boss is a terrific experience and can give you the ti [read more..]