Tag: grace

Categories
motivation

Have Patience

Today, we will almost certainly need to maintain our composure. If we are parents of young kids, we’ll need it. Waiting for that business deal, or dealing with the workflow will require us to be patient. And someone who is inconsiderate, insincere, or just rude will require a little more from us. We all need a heaping dose of patience.

cartoon of a guy tapping his fingers impatiently on a table

One of those areas will affect some of us more than others. Yet, there is someone all of us will need great tolerance for. That person is ourselves. This quote reminds us we need to give ourselves a break.

“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them – every day begin the task anew.”

Saint Francis de Sales (1567 – 1622)

Of all the people we need patience with, ourselves can be the hardest. We know our thoughts and actions. We can be hard on ourselves way too much. If we have high standards, we will most likely fall short.

Patience Keeps us Moving

However, we all need to give ourselves a break. Because if we aren’t patient with ourselves, we are going to get stuck. Our frustration with our own imperfections will keep us from moving forward.

Instead of mulling over why we did this or that, consider what it would look like to improve. That will keep us moving in the right direction instead of wasting all of our time berating ourselves for our imperfections.

Giving Ourselves a Break Let’s Us Helps Us Help Others

When we give ourselves grace, we are in a much better place to help others. It opens us up to empathy because we can acknowledge we aren’t perfect. High standards are good until it makes us intolerant of human behavior. What is the point of perfection if it alienates us from others?

When we acknowledge we still have much to learn, it helps us to have the patience and empathy to teach others.

Today, let’s give ourselves a little grace, learn from our imperfections and mistakes, and move forward. It can even help us teach others how to overcome some of the obstacles we have faced.

Categories
Christmas holiday

Merry Christmas!

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.” Charles Dickens

“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future.”

Dickens, Charles. A Christmas Carol (AmazonClassics Edition) (p. 97). Amazon Classics. Kindle Edition.

It’s Christmas morning! we have made it through the hustle and bustle. Now it is time to settle down with our favorite hot beverage, check out what is under the tree, and wish our loved ones a Merry Christmas!

Ebenezer Scrooge is one of my favorite literary characters. He is a reminder no one is beyond redemption. It is full of reckoning, suspense, and grace. A Christmas Carol reminds me that anyone can have a second chance.

To be honest, I struggle with that once in a while. I am sure we all do. There is someone that hurt us, a person that feels justified in their actions that makes it hard to forgive and welcome them with Christmas cheer. If we’re honest, all of us can think of someone right now.

But on this day, let us have nothing but peace on earth, goodwill to all. Let us honor Christmas in our hearts, and try to keep it all year long. May your day be blessed!

Categories
Children's Books

Jabbing at Picture Books

Cartoon of a dad reading a bedtime story to his son. The son says, “Read me the one about the dad who loved his son no matter what!”

USA Today has an article about the guys from JibJab getting into the picture book market. Gregg and Evan Spiridellis are using iPads and what they’ve learned from the e-card market  to bring kids into the picture book… literally.

I loved the fact that technology can bring picture books into a new realm. Just think what could happen in a couple of years! We could have animated picture books where the child is embedded into the story as if it was a home movie. There could be pop-up books that utilize 3D technology to put the child in the story. How would a kid react to see themselves pop out of the story? Wouldn’t that be awesome?

Some people may see this as a bad thing. But I believe any technology used to tell a story can be just as legitimate as any other. Content is the important thing. A poor story will flounder whether it is done traditionally or with every bell and whistle a programmer can throw at it. At the same time, a good story will shine whether it is done on back of napkins or in an iPad app.

However, technology can get in the way of a parent. If an e-reader is used in the place of a dad who doesn’t want to read that dad-blamed story for the one-hundredth time, then something very valuable is lost. Kids need to have their parents read to them whenever it is possible.

What are your thoughts?

Categories
webcomic

Teaching Safety

Copyright 2011: Kevin Spear Spot illustration of a man with a gun. He is staring at a fish with a hole through it.

When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to take a class on gun safety. This was a golden opportunity for me because it got me out of study hall. You know study hall, don’t you? It is that misnamed class that is held in a room, where no studying goes on except the kind where students study their classmates.
I jumped at the chance to learn how to handle a gun. I thought I would be able to learn how to handle a firearm and impress my father. Then I could get some serious man points.
In class, we went through all the important things about handling a gun. Some of the things we learned where:

  • How to dress in fluorescent orange so some crazy hunter doesn’t mistake you for Bambi.
  • Never put a white handkerchief in your back pocket because white-tail deer do that all the time and you don’t want a crazy hunter to shoot you.
  • Be a safe hunter, not one of those crazy ones that shoot at handkerchiefs and camouflaged guys.

We learned all sorts of common sense rules, such as don’t point a gun at someone unless you really mean it, make sure the gun isn’t loaded around kids and be sure to get your hunter’s license early and often! (Yes, it was sponsored by our state’s department of natural resources!)
There was one thing we NEVER learned in that class. They never let us shoot a gun. Looking back on the class, I can understand why they were leery letting inexperienced teens bring guns to school. Gee, nothing could ever go wrong with that, right?
I felt cheated that I got this suitable-for-framing certificate that said I was a safe gun owner, when I never owned a gun, or even shot one. I had to get my dad to show me how to shoot a gun. It was only after I personally experienced using a firearm, did I learn how powerful they were and what they were capable of doing. After that, I finally KNEW why gun safety was important.
I keep that lesson in mind when I teach or write for kids. For example, this month, I’m talking with my kids about grace. I need to consider how it applies to them. The examples I give must show that it is important to give it and receive it in a way they have experienced and find relevant.
If I give examples that they can relate to, maybe they can see what a valuable tool it is. When I teach, I try to remember when I was ten years-old and had to show grace to someone else. Maybe I didn’t do such a good job at that time. That’s okay. They need to know it isn’t easy and we’re not perfect.
Something like grace is powerful. I want to be sure they know how to use it safely.