FOOD FOR THOUGHT with Thuku wa Thuku Who you are speaks louder than anything you can say Of late, Ive come to truly understand the saying life is not necessarily what happens to you rather how you react to it. A mental attitude is key in order to ensure you achieve anything in life. Upon listening to a video by Russell Simmons (Founder of Phat Farm clothing line) he attributed his success to determination, resilience, focus and hard work. If we unpack these words critically, its not hard to see that these are all mental attitudes that can be developed by anyone! Anyway, I digress! Todays session looks at one thing Ive come to appreciate and embrace, that is, POSITIVITY! The following is from Lee Ryan Millers book Teaching Amidst the Neon Palm Trees. At the beginning of my 8:00 a.m. class one Monday at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), I cheerfully asked my students how their weekend had been. One young man said that his weekend had not been very good. Hed had his wisdom teeth extracted. The young man then proceeded to ask me why I always seemed to be so cheerful. His question reminded me of something Id read somewhere before: Every morning when you get up, you have a choice about how you want to approach life that day, I said to the young man. I choose to be cheerful. Let me give you an example, I continued. The other 60 students in the class ceased their chatter and began to listen to our conversation. As soon as I got there, I called AAA and asked them to send a tow truck. The secretary in the Provosts office asked me what had happened. This is my lucky day, I replied, smiling. Your car breaks down and today is your lucky day?? She was puzzled. What do you mean? I live 17 miles from here, I replied. My car could have broken down anywhere along the freeway. It didnt. Instead, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, within walking distance of here. Im still able to teach my class, and Ive been able to arrange for the tow truck to meet me after class. If my car was meant to break down today, it couldnt have been arranged in a more convenient fashion. The secretarys eyes opened wide, and then she smiled. I smiled back and headed for class. So ended my story to the students in my economics class at UNLV. I scanned the 60 faces in the lecture hall. Despite the early hour, no one seemed to be asleep. Somehow, my story had touched them. Or maybe it wasnt the story at all. In fact, it had all started with a students observation that I was cheerful. A wise man once said: Who you are speaks louder to me than anything you can say. I suppose it must be so. To end, my mentor earlier on this year told me that only you can decide what annoys you. I hope these words will continue to echo! Choose the attitude you want on a daily basis and it will manifest into your being! Have a great day and public holiday tomorrow!
Posted on: Wed, 30 Apr 2014 09:30:00 +0000
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