Day 2 of 365

So as I woke this morning and went about my day with a little weight lifted off my shoulders, i did my work with less stress, I was pleasant with everyone I encountered today, I was a little more calm and collected, why, I'm not certain. Was it the reflection from the night before. I guess we will have to wait and see if it continues on.
I had a student tell me that it was unfair that their instructor didn't give them points for trying, even though they got all the answers wrong, I thought to myself, what really is trying? The dictionary definition of trying in this case means to attempt to do something, but just because we attempt does that mean we are giving it 100% and if we are not should we really be rewarded for it? I think that if we are truly giving anything our "all" we will see good results, and if we are giving it 100% we shouldn't expect any more of ourselves. It is when we procrastinate do something with half the effort or do not give 100% of our commitment that we are quick to point fingers that it is unfair or we are not being rewarded for our partial credit. She also stated that none of her other instructors in classes other than English had marked off points for grammar or punctuation mistakes as quickly as this one, and another thought popped into my head. That could either make her lucky that so far in her program she had such lax instructors that she got by with her mediocre work or it could make her unlucky in that she was close to being finished with her program and she either never learned the proper way or developed some lazy habits.
How often in our lives when we don't give 100% or we take the easy way around things do we not only feel less adequate about ourselves but also need to redo or repeat something because it wasn't good enough, and if we would have just done it right the first time, even if it took longer or was more involved... we would have been better off.
My daily reflection is that I will try my best to give each person I speak to, every situation I encounter, every problem I am trying to solve, 100% of my attention at the given moment I am faced with it, rather than giving partially and then having to fix it later on, just causing more anxiety or stress that could have been avoided.

Today I am extra grateful for my really awesome connections at work- you know who you are... that make my day a little brighter!
I am grateful for my amazing son, who brings joy to my life.
I am grateful for my mother who taught me to be myself and to do the things that would make myself proud of me.

Happiness is the consequence of personal effort- Elizabeth Gilbert


History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats."

Bertie Charles Forbes
1880-1954, Financial Journalist, Author and Founder of Forbes Magazine