Description: This week, let's be a little kinder to ourselves and sink into this little respite with some awesome reflection.
Resources:
1. Explore the Kids In Need Foundation's work now at EveryTeacherEveryDay.org/SelfCareForEducators
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Transcription: Hi, and welcome to episode 12 of self-care for educators. I'm your host, Tina Bogan. This week is Thanksgiving. You made it. Now, I know this episode comes out on Monday, and some of you are like, Nope, Tina haven't made it yet. Still have school on Monday and Tuesday, and you're hanging on by your fingernails. I know, but it's so close.
You can see it. You're on the countdown. And, I want us to really spend ... This week, the invitation is to sink into your break, to sink in, to gratitude this Thanksgiving. I think so many of us are kind of at a breaking point. I'm talking to you, and I'm listening, and I'm reading articles, and I'm looking at the data and the survey responses and wow. We've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again. This year is just unbelievable. It is so incredibly hard for so many reasons. And, when things are hard, it's really easy to forget the gratitude, which is why so many of you ... Oh, it has just been incredible to be over in that Facebook group this month, really listening to reading your responses around my daily prompts around different things that you're grateful for.
So, I think the one that filled my heart up the most was the animal one. Oh my goodness. You know, sharing an animal that you are grateful for. And I asked you, I challenged you to post a picture. You guys, if you didn't see that post, go back. Scroll through that, those incredible pictures of your amazing pets. So many sweet dogs and cats. And, we got horses in there. We got the whole gamut. Rescue pets that we rescued, but we feel like they've rescued us on and on and on. Whew. That's just a sampling of some of the goodness that happened over in the Facebook group this month and will continue to happen for the rest of November.
And so, the power of gratitude ... We know this. We've shared this. We've talked about this. I think this week, what I want us to do is, I want you to double-down on the gratitude. I want you to think about what exactly are you grateful for this week and this moment. Sometimes we think of gratitude. We think of the same things, which, hey, there's nothing wrong with that. Right? What are you grateful for? We're grateful for our family, and our health, and those big pieces. Yes.
But the challenge this week, or the invitation this week is I want you to get specific. I want you to dig deeper and really think about, okay, what is it about your family? Is it the way that you have inside jokes that only you guys know about? And, you pull them out at the exact moment when someone needs them? Is it that you have that one person in your life? That you know, that you can call at three o'clock in the morning and they will say, Tell me what's going on. Is it game night where you all sit around the table, and you play games, and you laugh, and you have ridiculous competition, and on and on and on?
Maybe it's the distinct gratitude for the way that, that incredible rescue dog knows exactly when to nuzzle up and settle in, because they feel your stress.
Your gratitude is the opportunity to regroup this week, to take a beat, to spend time not thinking about work without guilt. You can be an incredible teacher. You can love your job on most days, and you can be so grateful to be away from it.
So to dig back into our content this week, it's gratitude. I know that seems like an easy theme for the week of Thanksgiving, but I want you to even take it to a whole new level. I want you to really pause and maybe write it down. Maybe do a little meditation around it. Maybe take some pictures around it, but I want your guiding word and goal for this week is gratitude. Even though it could be a really hard week for many of you ... Thanksgiving can be hard. Families are hard. Some of you have been working so stinking hard at work at school, and now you got to come home and you've got to make this big, huge dinner and put on the show and do all the things. And, for some of you that brings you immense joy.
And, for some of you that is stress and obligation and hard. And, we got the whole gamut here. So, let's just be extra kind to each other. Oh, let's be really kind to ourselves. And, let's really narrow in on the most minute details of gratitude this week.
I want you to engage your five senses. I want you to think about what, what smell are you grateful for? Ooh, what taste are you grateful for? What does it feel like when you are tapped in to that gratitude? And, I want you to just keep this in the forefront of your mind this week. Gratitude. Oh, so much gratitude. I'm so grateful for all of you. I want you to have an amazing week. I want you to give yourself permission to rest. I want you to allow yourself a little bit of space and a little bit of breathing room and to take what you need and to set boundaries around your time. It's going to be amazing, because you're amazing. Sink in fully, fully, fully to the gift of this.
As always a huge thank you to Brooke for making this happen. Thank you to Marzano Resources and Solution Tree for this job I get to do. And, thank you to our sponsor, the Kids In Need Foundation. Have an amazing, amazing week. I'm so grateful for you.
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