tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35990418.post3863965709608109403..comments2024-03-08T13:52:22.224-07:00Comments on LAJOY FAMILY: Life Ain't Always EasyCindy LaJoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16486626867331586704noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35990418.post-39096720171972036792012-08-06T07:36:16.793-06:002012-08-06T07:36:16.793-06:00You have me thinking about failure. We have a fri...You have me thinking about failure. We have a friend who taught school and felt he was a failure because not all the students worked up to their potential, learned all they could, "succeeded" in school. He felt that if he could just teach "right", the students would reach their peak. By the time he left he had to have all his teeth capped because he had ground them down so far.<br /><br />He was not a failure. He was an excellent teacher, and many of us tried to convince him that he had done what he could, that students bring their own motivation, background, expectations (some, expectations of failures), etc. just as yours do.<br /><br />Then there is native intelligence, the profound influence of family, nutrition, drugs and alcohol, on and on.<br /><br />There is also our societal definitions of success, and the guilt and shame that seems entrenched in so many of us (so many mothers feel it at one time or another).<br /><br />I have a friend who has taught me about ANTs, automatic negative thoughts, like "I have failed at..." No one wants ants in their house, so too should we get rid of the ANTs in our minds. It helps to remember that they are ANTs and apply the insecticide of positive affirmation as soon as you recognize the ANT. <br /><br />Now, Cindy, as all of you rid yourselves of ANTs, I am going to deal with a few of mine.<br /><br />Happy ANT hunting,<br />Lael<br /><br />P.S. I used to write a family letter a month--pre blog days. It got to be a running joke (if I didn't joke about it, I would cry) about which car was broken and why, which piece of farm equipment was sidelined just when it was harvest time, and which two or three appliances died. (Mine never died one at a time.) It is anxiety producing, an extra weight on top of financial concerns. I remember an old cartoon of an evangelistic healer on a stage holding a vacuum cleaner in one hand, another hand raised over it and intoning, "Heal, brother, heal". Do you want me to come over, and we can all lay hands on your dryer and intone "Heal, brother, heal". Then when it doesn't heal we can all sit down and laugh over Diet Cokes and brownies?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35990418.post-19407324729227824192012-08-06T03:26:57.655-06:002012-08-06T03:26:57.655-06:00Kenny's corn dance is awesome! Really lifted m...Kenny's corn dance is awesome! Really lifted my spirits!Flysshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17865728031298053395noreply@blogger.com