Positive Change. There is a lot of power in those two words. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling so grateful for two powerfully-positive events that happened this week - one of them yesterday. I remembered that my wife had told me that if I got up in the night, to go rotate some slow-cooking chicken being prepared for a big celebration dinner we are going to this afternoon. I went and stirred the pot and then, since I was up anyway, decided to check my blogs and read emails.
I enjoyed reading the comments on my "Sour Grapes" blog from Friday. I really wrote from the heart on that one and believe so strongly in the principles behind it. As I read the comments and went to read one commentor's linked post and comment on his blog, the idea for a follow-up post began to form. Both commentors addressed important ideas that stem from my mentioning of the Law of Attraction the other day.
Even though this blog is not about success and positive change in personal life issues persay, as my post brought out on Friday, success for my students, therapists and educators is really important to me. Positive change for my students is the whole purpose of why my job exists! So really, any principles I practice that accomplish this in my personal life would naturally be pretty smart to apply to my professional life too.
We have been trained to separate personal from professional when it comes to the dynamics of how we function at work. I would say that it is important to a certain extent, but when it comes to success principles, they should be able to be applied holistically in all areas of your life. Your work with special needs and multiple disabilities should benefit from those principles. Incoporate the ideas below and see what happens! I challenge you!
If you will indulge me a little...
I have seen incredible changes in my life over the past year or so, initially due to a stroke that put me in the hospital and put a different "spin" on life for me. It gave me a new angle to view assistive technology from and it made me look at AT from a user standpoint more than a provider standpoint. It also caused me to take a serious look at the "fruits of my labors" financially, relationally and professionally. I felt as if I was running in circles and wasn't very effective in any area of my life. I really was "dead inside" to a certain extent and didn't even know it.
I began then, and continue now to do more reading on success principles. Some books are sales and business oriented and others are self-help oriented, but all of them have had one thing in common. They illustrate and teach that we are, literally, what we think.
They all have another dynamic in common: Being grateful and thankful for what you have and what you will have as you believe and visualize it, are powerful attractors of those things. If you are diligent to focus on being grateful and apply it to new, positive and specific change, over time, you will see that positive change comes to be part of your reality, (and that was exactly what happened with the two events that had so powerfully come about this past week).
As I have practiced this - and believe me it has not always been easy to walk in the face of fear under some real challenges and still be grateful -I have found my faith to be strengthened, my relationships to be healthier, less stressful, my finances to be stronger and my professional life more enjoyable and more effectual.
One of the comments from yesterday brought out that we need to be appreciating our community, the support we have and our world around us rather than being a "victim" of what is happening around us. That is so true. If you do ONE thing different this spring that will effect positive change for you in the months ahead, make it be "an attitude of gratitude." I know that sounds simplistic and maybe a little cliche, but believe me, it will make all the difference in the world.
I think it was interesting that my topic the other day seemed to "ring true" for others. I appreciate hearing from you. If these two contributors agreed with some of the concepts I shared, I know there are a lot more of you out there that do too. If you will challenge yourself to think outside your normal box and allow yourself to expect great things and be thankful for them ahead of time, you will see positive change come.
Here's one last thing I would challenge you to do:
Sit down and write down what you want. You can't be thankful ahead of time for something if you don't know what it is. You have to be specific. You can't generalize and say, "I want to be happy." Think about what things would make you happy and write them down. Think about your profession and write down specific things you would like to see change for you and those you serve. Do this in any area of your life that you feel needs an overhaul. Don't worry about the "how" right now, just begin to affirm the things you want and allow the "how" to materialize through ideas, conversations, changes in circumstances, etc. If you are consistent to implement these things, the catalysts for change will flow and the results will follow. I know this as sure as I know the sun will come up tomorrow because it is a living and active element that happens in my life on a regular basis. It will work for anyone willing and wanting to see positive change.
All and only the best to you!
Lon
