MAC Week 2 Optional: No Arms No Legs No Worries

My brother-in-law showed me the video of Nick Vujicic's life the other day and it really made me put things into perspective. This video reminded me a little about the reading for this week. We tend to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life that we don't slow down and make contributions to life. We don't slow down and take ourselves less seriously. We don't appreciate the things we have until they are gone. I wanted to share this video with everyone, because I feel it is so powerful and sends such a strong message about accepting who we are for what we are and trying to give what we do have to others.

MAC Week 2 The Art of Possibility

Wow this weeks reading has made me put on the brakes and take a good look at myself and my contributions in life. I have grown up a very competitive person and even now find myself terrified of failure due to an overwhelming drive to be successful. Zander explains that unlike success and failure, contribution has no other side.

Zander has his students do an activity where they have to write down their contributions for the week. I sat here and tried to come up with a list of contributions I have made thus far this week and embarrassingly I could not come up with many. It seems right now in life I am so caught up in getting my own stuff done and surviving life, that I have not made much of a contribution to life at all. I am so focused on accomplishing that I have lost track of contributing.

After reading this chapter I really found myself in need of switching from survival mode to growth mode. My goal this week is to work towards making more contributions. I am also going to work on creating an activity for students to focus more on how to contribute to life and make the ripples necessary for positive change.

The Rule of 6 is also an area I need a ton of work in. I find that I can really get caught up in my calculating self and definitely need to work on lightening up. We make the day what it is and if we get caught up in the measurement world we can loose focus on what is really important in life. I would like to sit here and say all of the ways I can work on incorporating these concepts into my classroom, but the truth is I need a lot of work on myself before I feel I can truly teach there concepts to my students.

Lesson learned: humor and laughter are possibly the best ways we can get over ourself!

MAC Week 2 Comments for Scott

Scott,

Great post! It really is amazing how much a grade can limit a students ability to push themselves to think outside the box and to put their creative skills to work. Some student are so scared of not making the grade they limit themselves to only meeting the requirements instead of challenging themselves to create something out of the ordinary.

I have to admit I was the same way growing up and even think that way now from time to time. I have learned to simply meet the requirements so I get the A I want. I find that there are times I have received an A for an assignment because I just went down the list to make sure I followed the requirements, but really didn't spend the time to learn anything along the way.

The Art of Possibility has got me thinking a lot about the everyday challenges I deal with. I really have enjoyed this book and the insight it is bringing into my life.

MAC Week 2 Comment for Sharon

Sharon,

You nailed it! I agree that if we choose to be in a good mood we will be but if we wake up and choose the other side, it is amazing how bad we can make our own day. Being pregnant I have found that my moods seems to get the best of me at times. I walked into school the other day and like you said my students were just being horrible. But it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, it is just that my perception of their behavior was much more negative than when I am in a more laid back mood.

I love the idea of letting go of accomplishing and spending more time contributing to life!

MAC Week 1: Art Of Possibility

The Art of Possibility

The power of positive thinking is truly a powerful tool! Zander’s experience with music is a perfect way to set the “tone” for explaining his views on possibility. I agree that we all seem to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I find myself making judgments and assumptions on a daily basis that are limiting my view on the world and things that are indeed possible. What we can achieve is limitless, but our ability to create a mind set that is open and judgment free is incredibly difficult due to the underlying information we learn growing up in our society. I find it amazing how often I hear my students saying they can’t do something before they have even tried it. It seems people are so terrified of failing that they are scared to even attempt something they may be great at. Zander uses his musical teaching metaphors to explain this view of limitless possibility, as a teacher I feel it is critical for us to embrace this mindset and try to instill it in our students, so their future is full of possibility.

MAC Week 1: Comments for Chuck

I find it amazing how all of those concepts and memories we store away seem to always be underlying in our choices and beliefs. When learning about things and making personal judgements it seems that I always have a preconceived notion of how I feel about it when I may not "really" know what is underneath the picture. It is not an easy to let go of these notions we have learned our entire life and look at them with a set of fresh eyes.

MAC Week 1: Comments for Denise

Wow, what an amazing story. I enjoyed this reading but seem to be having a hard time really grasping the true meaning and applying it to my own life. Your story has put the pieces together for me that I wasn't quite grasping. Thank you for sharing this!