Category: motivation

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motivation

Worry is Wasted Creativity

Cartoon of a man in a fetal position. He says to another, "I'm okay. This is just how I get creative."

No one really knows the future. We can make assumptions based on past experience and current data, but it’s still a guessing game. And if all the predictions are based on fear, worry is wasted creativity.

Anxiety can limit our creativity. Whether our surroundings make us anxious, or we put too much pressure on ourselves to be creative, fear and anxiety can stymie us. It wastes our imagination when we think about all the bad things that have happened, are happening now, and could happen.

The energy we put into fretting only serves to encourage those circumstances. I have found the old adage, what we think about, we bring about, to be way too prophetic.

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motivation

Do you learn anything from a goofy teacher?

Cartoon of a boy and a teacher. The student says, "You're goofy, Mr. Schmeltzer! I like that in a teacher."

Do you learn anything from a goofy teacher? When I first drew this cartoon, I thought about how goofiness and whimsy made teaching fun.

Do you learn anything from a goofy teacher? Cartoon of a boy and a teacher. The student says, "You're goofy, Mr. Schmeltzer! I like that in a teacher."

The best days I had when teaching were when I was having fun with the class and so were they. In the process, I was teaching them something without the students realizing it.

The worst days I had as a large group teacher were when I took myself too seriously. Maybe I was having a bad day or week. Instead of laughing at myself, I thought too much about myself.

I let pride get in the way. I cared too much about how I looked. As a result, I didn’t have a good time… and neither did the students.

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motivation Quotes

Does Everyone Have a Destiny?

Quote from Henry Miller: "Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him.

In today’s quote, Henry Miller claims everyone has a destiny. If it is true, that can be a scary proposition. If life isn’t going the way we hoped, if we are going through a tough time right now, we tend to believe that is our lot in life and to just accept it.

Quote from Henry Miller: "Every man has his own destiny: the only imperative is to follow it, to accept it, no matter where it leads him.
From Brainyquote.com

But should we? If our vision and values are misaligned with our current situation, should we just accept that’s the way things are?

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motivation

You are Never Permanently Stuck

Illustration of a skier stuck in the snow. I drew this for Illustration Friday. This week's word is "snow."

We have the tendency to think that where we are at right now is where we will be for the rest of our lives. But we are never permanently stuck. Sure, today may be a puzzle for us.

  • The future is unknown
  • It may have always been this way
  • The trend points to the current outcome
  • There is no obvious solution

We can feel like a skier that is stuck in a snowbank.

Illustration of a skier stuck in the snow. I drew this for Illustration Friday. This week's word is "snow."

Discouragement can make us feel like giving up. We feel panic or a feeling of panic or despair well up within us.

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children's ministry children's ministry cartoons K! Magazine Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine motivation work

When You Just Can’t Work Remotely

Cartoon of a man observing a woman with s smartphone. She says, "Frank texted me. He's supposed to be in the K-1 class, but he's out of town. He offered to watch the class if we Skype him in."
Originally published in "K! Kidzmatter Magazine."

As the novel coronavirus concerns ramped up, there was a big emphasis on working from home. But we soon heard, “What happens when you just can’t work remotely?”

For many office jobs, we found it was a possibility. As a graphic designer, that can be a preferred mode of working. After all, you just need a laptop and a speedy Internet connection, and you are in business. However, after two years, we’ve found there are aspects of remote work that just don’t work.

Also, there are many jobs where that just isn’t possible. Manufacturing requires workers to be at the machines and be productive. As a Graphics Manager at such a facility, I soon found I was needed at the plant. While we had some office workers off-site as a precaution, we still needed office workers there to keep the jobs moving.

While some schoolwork can be done remotely, someone has to be there to guide a child and keep him out of trouble. Someone has to be home to feed her. Sure, The parent can do that… while they are working remotely… and having their web conference with that important client… and keeping the dog quiet. What could go wrong?

We soon found out! Remote learning has been very hard for students. I feel for them. While remote employment has worked, remote learning has been very hard for kids.

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