The Upward Climb to Wholeness

In 5 years and 323 posts, this is my third post that I’ve been late to upload and send out. 

(I was going to write “…this is only my third post...”)

Out of 323 posts, 3 being late is less than 1% of my posts. Thats over 99% on time as promised.

(I was going to add “That’s pretty good!”)

I can give you the reasons I’m uploading this late. I want to.

That’s what we do, isn’t it? We give reasons to justify why we’re not living up to our own standards. 

Here’s the stat about my lateness that is most interesting to me, though: 

Out of 323 posts, 3 were late, and 2 of these late posts were in the last week. 😳

Yes, 2 of my 3 late posts are this one and last week’s!

It’s a slippery, easy slope to degrade our integrity. The more we sell out on our promises and commitments, the easier it is to sell out on our promises and commitments. 

So what do I do now? How do I restore my integrity, and how do I restore my view of myself as someone who honors his commitments, on time, and to my best abilities?

I forgive myself for getting this post out late. 

I forgive myself for not planning as well as I could’ve. 

I forgive myself for still wanting to share my reasons with you. 

I forgive myself for selling out on my commitment. 

Etc. 

The slippery downward slope is easy. The upward climb to integrity and wholeness takes more effort. 

That’s why so many of us don’t make that climb. 

Why is it that we can climb that challenging hill to integrity and wholeness, and then so easily slip back down the hill in a moment of weakness or distraction?

Regardless or the whys, there’s just one direction for us that has integrity and honors who we really are and what we’re really up to:

The upward climb to wholeness. 

Besides, it’s likely that we don’t actually slip that far back downhill. Maybe it only looks that way to our judgmental mind. 

So, forgive yourself and get your butt back on that upward climb to wholeness.

Choose: continue the downward slide or get back on the upward climb.

Thank you for reading. 🙏❤️

Once a Young Woman Said to Me

(A Hafiz poem to live by.)

Once a young woman said to me, “Hafiz, what 

is the sign of someone who knows God?”

I became very quiet, and looked deep into her 

eyes, then replied,

“My dear, they have dropped the knife. Someone

Who knows God has dropped the cruel knife 

That most so often use upon their tender self

and others.”

Making Magic in the Classroom and in Life

There are two key ingredients to magical teaching, and these ingredients can be applied in life beyond the field of education.

The first ingredient is that the magic isn’t in the teacher, it’s in the student. The more we recognize that there’s a creative, loving, and insightful genius within each of our students, the less our job becomes about getting somewhere in a lesson and the more it becomes about supporting students to unleash this genius. Once we realize that we all already have everything we need to thrive in life, we can simply respect, honor, steward, and support the perfection already within others and ourselves.

The second ingredient of magical teaching (and living) is to adjust to the terrain in front of you, no matter what the map says. Teachers have objectives, intentions, and goals in mind when working with students, and these goals are like a beacon in the distance. When we create a lesson plan, we have expectations that the class will follow the plan as designed and we’ll arrive at the beacon of understanding together.

However, the actual terrain of the journey can surprise us, and we’ve got to be aware and willing to adapt in the moment. We need to adjust to the bumps, sinkholes, mountains, and rifts that show up along the way. All it takes is to be aware and willing.

Try these ingredients in your own life, relationships, and commitments, whether you're a teacher or not. Trust me, they're magical.

Thanks so much for reading. ❤️