One of my clients sent me this story
the other day. You'll know who you are and I thank you
for it. I am sharing it with you, my readers, in the hope
that it will bring the same good feeling it brought me
when I read it the first time and every time since. Enjoy
it!
Unknown author
Quiet Elegance
- Stallings
Original acrylic on canvas 43"x50"
She is 92 years old, petite, well-poised and proud.
She is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock,
with her hair fashionably coifed, and her make-up
perfectly applied, in spite of the fact she is legally
blind.
Today she has moved to a nursing home. Her husband
of 70 years recently passed away, making this move
necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby
of the nursing home, where I am employed, she smiled
sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered
her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual
description of her tiny room, including the eyelet
curtains that had been hung on her window.
'I love it,' she stated with the enthusiasm of an
eight year old having just been presented with a
new puppy.
'Mrs Jones, you haven't seen the room...just wait,'
I said. Then she spoke these words that I will never
forget.
'That does not have anything to do with it,' she
gently replied.
'Happiness is something you decide on ahead of
time. Whether I like my room or not, does not depend
on how the furniture is arranged. It is how I arrange
my mind. I have already decided to love it.
It is a decision I make every morning when I wake
up. I have a choice. I can spend the day in bed
recounting the difficulty I have with the parts
of my body that no longer work, or I can get out
of bed and be thankful for the ones that do work.
Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open,
I will focus on the new day and all of the happy
memories I have stored away...just for this time
in my life.
Age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what
you have already put in.'
The corner stone of parenting is the ability to respond
instead of reacting. As one of the most important tools
used in life coaching knowing how to respond is the difference
between a parents living one day at the time and proactive
parents who look at parenting as the most important career
move in their lives. Being proactive means eliminating
the need to react because you work on issues before they
occur and have in place a parenting goal that you have
clearly defined and planed for.
Write down your parenting goals. List the values you and
your family stand for, the behaviour and attitudes that
set your family apart and underline its uniqueness. We
all know that we do not have the chance to dress rehears
this role. No mater how many children we have the only
constant in our live as parents are our goals and values.
How we help our kids reach them is different each time.
Children are as responsive to respect as us. Respect their
judgment enough to share your thoughts, your values, and
the family goals. Don't "preach". Discuss and
bring in arguments that make sense for your children.
Don't tell them that your goals as a parent is to bring
them up to become good members of the society and bring
their contribution to building a better future for those
who will come after them. This doesn't mean much to a
young child. Children live the moment and for most of
the childhood there is no future beyond the next occasion
for receiving gifts.
1. Be involved and involve your child/ren
in getting them ready for school -
Read more>>>>> 2. Get everything ready in time -
Read more>>>>> 3. Talk with them about their dreams for the new
school year -
Read more>>>>> 4. Talk to them about their fears for the new school
year -
Read more>>>>> 5. Respect their feelings and don't dismiss what
they say -
Read more>>>>> 6. Involve the rest of the family -
Read more>>>>> 7. Talk and draft a schedule to help them get ready
for it - Read
more>>>>> 8. Tell other people about your child going back
to school -
Read more>>>>> 9. Start working on the present for their graduation
- Read more>>>>> 10. Treat the first day of school as a special day
- Read more>>>>>
Back
To School - Parenting Workshops & TeleClasses
Today's parents with school age children often
find themselves facing challenges & questions
with nowhere to turn for answers. Yes, there are
plenty of self-help books, articles and ways that
one might find the information in the end.
However how many people have the time to invest
in looking for them? How does one keep up with all
the changes in the school environment and thus with
the changes in school life in general?
The Back To School Coaching Workshops for Parents
are a series of individual coaching workshops designed
based on issues that have come up from interviewing
parents, asking them for feedback, asking them for
examples when they found it hard to come by the
information they needed, etc.
Workshop/Teleclass
Kindergarten
Beyond Day One - 1
hour session
Who Likes Homework?
I Do! - 1
hour session
Friends Or
Just Peers? - 1
hour session
Make Friends
With Your Schedule - 1
hour session
Going To School
In A New Country - 1
hour session
On Your Marks,
Set...High School - 1
hour session
NOTE:
All our workshops are offered in both face to
face workshops and teleclass format. We are
currently working on finalising the dates and
times. To find out more, learn about the dates
& times and to book a place visit
our site
Aimed at offering the best tools and skills needed
to market, present and offer coaching services,
our Coaching Business Workshops/Teleclasses have
been developed during the last month of 2002 and
are now in the final stages of preparation for delivery.
Workshops/Teleclasses to be offered beginning of
February 2003 are:
Workshop/Teleclass
6 Steps to Designing A Winning Coaching
Workshop /Teleclass 1 free session + 2 paid sessions
Marketing Made Easy - What Really Works 1 paid session
Your On-line Tool: The Website 1 free session + 4 paid sessions
Great Presentations - No stress, no pain,
just...lots of fun 1 free session + 2 paid sessions
NOTE:
All our workshops are offered in both face to
face workshops and teleclass format. We are
currently working on finalising the dates and
times. To find out more, learn about the dates
& times and to book a place visit
our site
Visit
our site to read more about the workshops and
teleclasses developed for coaching business owners
and operators by PrimaClass Coaching
Coach Lee is an international coach, trainer and
speaker with 17 years of corporate management experience
in the telecommunications industry. She is a Master
Certified Coach and has been coaching since 1996.
Coach Lee has a Master's degree in Management from
Regis University and is a part-time faculty member
at the University of Phoenix, Denver campus. She
is working towards a Doctorate degree at Walden
University in Applied Management and Decision Sciences
with a specialization in Business Coaching.
Coach Lee is a graduate of Coach University, is
the Director of Training at the International Coach
Academy, has taught coaching classes at Colorado
Free University, and is co-founder of the Denver
Coach Federation.
She is a published writer and is often quoted as
an expert in coaching, management issues and self-esteem.
Coach Lee is a contributing author to a newly released
book, "The Guide to Getting It: Self-Esteem."
For the past four years, Coach Lee has published
the award winning electronic newsletter, "365
Days of Coaching," a daily dose of motivation
and so much more.
