t’s a busy time of year… really, it’s just plain busy no matter what time of year it is (insert a smile… might look a bit like a grimace, but trust me, it’s a smile). With all this merriment and joy and love and candy canes, it’s easy to find your energy tank tipping towards empty, maybe even well below the E and into the red.
Stress comes from the good and from the bad, small challenges or setbacks gather momentum and weight until they’ve grown into stones in your belly- spewing acid in your esophagus and tears in your eyes. Hormones don’t help-seriously, mother nature, NO ONE should have that time of the month from december 20th through the 27th… geeesh.
So, to combat this stress and help realign my focus, I am actively working on kindness. To clarify, I’m working on kindness towards myself. I’m pretty good at being kind to others… it seems to come naturally, I had amazing parents and others in my life that showed examples of wonderful care and empathy, willingness to help physically or lend an ear. I can honestly find a compliment for each person I meet- and I love to make people feel good about themselves!
What I’m not so good at, is being gentle, caring, and empathetic towards myself. These pictures on this blog? Holy cow, more pictures of myself than I could probably find in the last 24 months put together… and honestly? the ONLY pictures I have of ONLY me—— and I could pick them apart bit by bit by bit. Seriously, I have THIGHS, people! and my hair- time for a change!!! And what speech pathologist do you know who has 1 nonverbal child, 1 child with a frontal lisp, and 1 child who has yet to consistently use 2 word phrases even though she’s almost 2???
You could probably write those sentences yourself, huh? Insert X for my Y and off you go- STOP!!!! Don’t do it!!! Take a deep breath and tell yourself something honest and true that is wonderful about who you are right now- not 10 pounds from now, not 2 months from now… right now. Find something on the outside -for that immediate superficial buzz- then take another deep breath and find something on the inside that you ARE, something you DO, something that is AMAZING. It might feel tricky… so let me start.
1. I have good eyes…not my vision, that stinks, but I like my eyes, and I like that I can speak, eloquently, with my eyes.
2. I keep trying- My big kid now uses his go talker to communicate his wants and needs because I would not stop trying/working/nagging with the pictures, individual buttons, sign language, iPad apps etc etc… and my middle B knows where his tongue belongs when he says /sssss/ and will do it, independently and consistently, in time, because we work in front of the mirror and he likes to get stickers and we go over and over and over lingual placement… my baby A is talking more and more and more and we continue to model and provide a language rich environment with all electronic distractions turned off even though that makes for a lot more work for mom and dad and gram and grandpa…
Your turn. Don’t start with the bad, skip it completely and give me something that is wonderful about yourself. Tell me something that others might miss… look hard at your soul, your deep down self, and give me the goods.
Work hard… be kind.
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