A Challenge...

As a teacher I have learned a thing or two about creating a positive atmosphere around you and warding off negativity and distraction. It obvious that we learn best in a place where we feel safe and there are little things around to distract us. When a distraction or negative influence makes itself apparent the best thing to do is simply, remove it from the setting.

For example: 

Problem: Tommy has broken his mechanical pencil and instead of throwing it away--proceeds to break it into a bunch of little pieces that will be used as across the room ammunition. 

Solution 1: Ask Tommy to throw the pencil shards in the garbage.

Result: Tommy will take the longest, most inconvenient route possible to the garbage can in order to throw 5 of the 28 pieces in the garbage, with the remaining 23 tucked into his pocket for a later surprise attack. 

OR

Solution 2: Casually walk over to Tommy, place out your hand-palm up-and wait silently until all 28 bits of plastic AND the eraser cap you didn't know about fall piece by piece into your palm. Then, hand Tommy a working pencil so he can complete his assignment!

Result: VICTORY!

I think most of us would agree that Solution 2 is the better option for a few reasons. One, the distraction has been completely obliterated. Two, the distraction was addressed in a way that did not draw attention away from the rest of the class. Three, attention was not drawn to the misbehaving student, saving them from both humiliation OR idolization, depending on who it is.Overall, everybody wins.

Ok, so where am I going with this? Well, I have been thinking a lot about the state of our society. It's perilous, to say the least. There is so much negativity, violence, sadness, and just an overwhelming feeling of imminent demise. It's depressing. You can't login to your various social media accounts without seeing a post about a murderer/rapist/drug dealer that is at large. Or worse. 

The thing that bothers me about this is the ridiculous amount of attention this negativity receives daily. Hourly even. People read a post and immediately "like", "share", or "tweet" so that it appears on their activity and all of their friends will see it and do the same. It's a vicious cycle that results in instant social media fame.

Rarely do I see people celebrating the positives in this world. I have my opinions on why this is so but we will save that for a later time.

What I am getting at is this, just like Little Tommy--instead of making a big deal over this inappropriate and negative behavior that will, in fact, bring down others, why don't we just...acknowledge it for ourselves, and quietly allow it to dissipate. Let's not draw attention to all of this negativity. Of course, it will still be there. And we will still hear about it. But we don't have to blow it up and advertise it!

My dear friend, "H" we will call her, opened my eyes to this concept last week. She posted this on her timeline:

"I'm participating in this Pay it Forward initiative. Therefore, the first five people who comment on this status with "I'm In" will receive a surprise from me at some point during the calendar year. It could be anything from a book, a ticket, something homemade/homegrown, a postcard-absolutely any surprise! There will be no warning and it will happen when the mood comes over me and I find something that I believe would suit you and make you happy. These five people must make the same offer on their status.Let's do more nice and loving things for one another in 2014 wihtout any reason other than to make each other smile! Here's to a more enjoyable, more friendly and love filled life...LIVE HAPPY!"

What a positive notion! I immediately decided to participate! When I posted the same message on my wall I was totally surprised by my first 5! I am excited to find/prepare their gifts! 

This is the type of thing that should go viral! Instead of sharing that negativity let's spread happiness. The world is sad enough all on it's own. But maybe that's because that is all we see? Perhaps we can change our mentality. Maybe we can make a much needed shift where EVERYBODY WINS.

Let's try it out. Let's make a deal that when we see that negativity we will remove it from our atmosphere and replace it with something positive and functional! 

Deal? Deal. 

Happy Living,

Mo