Photo by kindergartenknowledge.com…Dallas, Texas…Summer, 2017

The thunder, the lightning, the clouds, the howling dogs, the cats hiding under the bushes, the rush of the wind, the bending trees, the falling limb on the roof… plus the brightest sunset…just another evening thunderstorm in Texas. Like the people we meet each day…every storm is different. Some loud. Some quiet. Some needed. Some not needed. And yet…amid the noise from the sky…we know tomorrow will be brighter because we surely learned something from the storm we encountered.

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Your disposition, your attitude, your demeanor precede you throughout your life. It is true…people can sense a poor disposition by the scowl on a person’s face. There was a time when I thought that a sad and discordant disposition was an inherited trait. I believed that there was nothing that a person could do if they were born with a negative personality. They were stuck with it. They just had to figure out how to live with negativity, how to simply give in to negativity, how to accept that they were the inevitable complainers. I changed my mind in the years after college when I was working at newspapers. I really changed my mind after I began teaching elementary school.

Nature vs Nurture…the debate that has continued through generations.

Blaming nature may be the easy way to explain away your far from positive attitude and lack of motivation. A coworker at a newspaper where I worked was a prime example…temperamental to the point of throwing things off of his desk; curt and rude answers; never thought that he was at fault for anything; blamed the general population of the city for any complaints about his articles; argued and yelled during staff meetings; stomped out of multiple meetings. His overall negative disposition and blatant behavior caused havoc for the entire staff. What a downer of a person. He was lusting for control of every situation.

One comment that he always made was… “I act just like my grandfather. I am proud of it!”…followed by “I could easily act a lot better, but I like the attention!”

He eventually lost his job. He never went back into the newspaper business. His disposition preceded him at every location where he applied. What talent he had! What a very fine writer! What research he completed for each assignment! And yet…he could not succeed in a competitive environment. The fault was completely his own.

I wonder how his upbringing came into play. Was he nurtured by his family? Was he taught to accept responsibility for his own actions? Was he taught to seek happiness even if it took a huge amount of effort? Was he taught the critical importance of behavior restraint? Was he taught about kindness?

Craig Jarrow wrote an interesting article on his site, Time Management Ninja…”21 Ways to Define a Positive Attitude”. Jarrow states that productivity in a job setting is contagious and your attitude is also very contagious. A positive and happy disposition can be contagious, but a negative and poor disposition can seem like a virus. In other words…a poor disposition can be a corrupting influence in any setting.

A positive attitude works in tandem with  a positive disposition.

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“21 Ways to Define a Positive Attitude”

By: Craig Jarrow

1. It is looking adversity in the eye…and laughing.

2. Getting what you get, and not pitching a fit.

3. Enjoying the unexpected, even when it’s not what you originally wanted.

4. Motivating those around you with a positive word.

5. Using the power of a smile to reverse the tone of a situation.

6. Being friendly to those you don’t know.

7. It’s getting beck up when you fall down. (No matter how many times you fall down.)

8. Being a source of energy that lifts those around you.

9. Understanding that relationships are more important than material things.

10. Being happy even when you have little.

11. Having a good time even when you are losing.

12. Being happy for the success of someone else.

13. Having a positive future vision, no matter how bad your current circumstances.

14. Smiling.

15. Paying a compliment, even to a total stranger.

16. Tell someone you know that they did a great job. (And mean it.)

17. Making someone’s day. (Not just a child’s…adults like to have their day to be special too.)

18. It’s not complaining no matter how unfair things appear to be. (It is a waste of time…instead do something.)

19. Not letting the negativity of other people bring you down.

20. Giving more that you expect to get in return.

21. Being true to yourself…always.

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Your choice…adjust your disposition and have a positive attitude!

Choose to be the type of person that everyone wants to work with, to talk to, to collaborate with…a positive and happy disposition is a cohesive force!

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/lust/

When I read that the prompt for today is tea, I thought about the above quote and all of the wonderful friends who have come my way through blogging. From Iowa, South Carolina, Texas, California, New York and all across the United States, England, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Cameroon, India, Dubai, Nigeria, Norway, Japan, China, Iceland, Switzerland, Ireland, Vietnam, Russia, Italy, Canada, Estonia, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Singapore, Albania, Argentina, Sweden, Hungary, Indonesia, Belgium, Finland, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Paraguay, Czech Republic, Thailand, Mexico, Croatia …and on and on and on.

I thank all of you for your kindness, your thoughtfulness, your proud voices, your talent, your differences, your likenesses, your strong opinions, your faith, your humor, your ability to reach out across the world.

We are indeed involved in a particularly important venture…writing for the sake of the pure spirit of communicating. We are building a world for ourselves that is wider and larger that ever we expected. I do think that we are reaching for a glimmer of understanding…a glimmer of peace…a glimmer of sharing.

Thank you for your friendships. I tell my friends and family about you and they are amazed at how fortunate we are that you are in our world!

A true statement…for sure!!

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A poem by Kate Greenaway…a children’s book author and illustrator in the latter half of the 19th century…

In the pleasant green garden
  We sat down to tea;
“Do you take sugar?” and
  “Do you take milk?”
She’d got a new gown on–
  A smart one of silk.
We all were so happy
  As happy could be,
On that bright Summer’s day
  When she asked us to tea.

Whatever belief we hold…whatever faith we hold, I believe that we do share in the journey of helping those in need…for we already understand friendship.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/tea/

Someone might ask…just what is a traditional home life? What is traditional in Texas might be different from a traditional home life in California. What is traditional in Japan might be different from a traditional home life in Brazil. Differences are understandable and expected. Everyone can define a traditional home life in their own way.

However…I would hope that traditional in any part of the world would (or could) involve the basic levels of need for sustainable life. Abraham Maslow, a noted American psychologist, wrote “A Theory of Human Motivation” in 1943. His findings stated that the basic needs are arranged in a Hierarchy of Needs. A pyramid is often presented as the foundation for a person’s basic needs. Lower needs must be met before a person can reach the top level called self-actualization. When this level is completed, a person reaches their full potential, according to Maslow. 

Those lower needs on the pyramid include the very basic needs of water, food, sleep and shelter. When I was in graduate school for Educational Administration, the presentations on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs made a serious impression on me. To me, it represents the eventual motivation that is especially needed for a young child to successfully progress through school with a sense of joy in learning, pride in accomplishment and a feeling of creative thinking.

In my own classroom, I have sadly seen the effects of the absence of these basic needs. When I was thinking of the word “traditional”…I thought immediately of the small child who was in my classroom more than ten years ago. I cannot help but think about currently young children who are in the same situation. Is there someone there to hear their voice? I only hope that someone at their school listens like a group of educators at my school listened. I wrote the following post in the second month of my blog…

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Summer of 2017...the child who was in my class is now grown up. My prayer is that he made it…that he became the happy child that he deserved to be. I hope that his basic needs plus more were met.

LET US NOT FORGET TO LISTEN TO THE QUIET VOICES FROM THE CHILDREN. 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/traditional/

Michael Henry and Justin Robinett were students at Texas Tech University in Lubbock Texas when they decided to record a YouTube video in 2009. It was just on a whim…just for fun. Justin had a set of amateur recording equipment that he had acquired back in high school. Michael was curious about how they could make a video. Why not try it out? Anyway… who in the world was really going to listen?

They both had a musical background in their growing up years and met when they were both on the Texas Tech drum line. Michael took piano lessons for a couple of years and played drums in his high school Jazz Ensemble. His singing ability was unknown to most everyone. Justin started taking piano lessons at ten years old and later began playing drums and playing guitar. He attended Texas Tech as a Music Performance Major. They had no idea of the fan support that they would receive from those first and subsequent YouTube videos.

And…another YouTube career was soon launched. Just by accident. Just for fun. They did not even think about the real people who would watch their video. And people watched…and people listened. People loved the blending harmony of their unique voices.

Michael and Justin have over 385,000 subscribers and over 74 million views on their videos. I first heard about them when a friend sent me a video of Michael and Justin singing “Hallelujah”. It turned out to be one of the best renditions that I have ever heard.

Their covers of well known hits are astounding. I have heard that they are currently on separate career paths…Michael now has a law degree from Texas Tech and Justin has several degrees from South Plains College in Sound Technology and Audio Engineering. I am simply hoping that they keep sharing their musical talent…

Michael and Justin’s harmony is truly a wondrous sound! 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/harmonize/

Indecision…the long way to success or the easy way?

Indecision…to laugh at knowledge or attain knowledge?

Indecision…scorn the poor or reach out a strong hand?

Indecision…give up your hopes or follow your dream?

Indecision…use sarcasm to communicate or kindness?

Indecision…invite disastrous results or find peace?

Waiting to make the best decision is very slow. Fear…slower. Lost in sorrow…time is so long. Choose to celebrate…time is so fast and fleeting…yet full of joy. 

However…look for true love and your time becomes a matter of eternity.

1 Corinthians 13:13…

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/disastrous/