Whiplash! – “O” my goodness, does it ever stop?

Whiplash: An injury to the neck caused by an abrupt jerking motion of the head, either backward or forward; And in the case of writing or speaking, can be caused by a rapid change of topic without prior notice.

Whiplash! – “O” my goodness, does it ever stop?

    I consider myself an optimist. I always like to look on the bright side of things and believe that things, as bad as they might be, will eventually be better. Sometimes it is hard for me to be that way, especially with violence and hatred throughout the world, but I try to have hope. It is sometimes difficult to put positive spins on things and to react to those people who’s pessimism has overshadowed all their thoughts. I like to use two quotes more frequently than others on emails that I send. One is from the movie “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” The character Sonny says, “Everything will be all right in the end…if it’s not all right, then it’s not the end.” and the other I found on sign in a store in Iowa, “When nothing goes right…Go left!”

    Being optimistic leaves a much better internal feeling than any other. Of course one has to be realistic at times and let the optimism take a back seat. But hopefully optimistic thoughts can prevail.

Whiplash!

    Isn’t it wonderful when you value people’s opinions. Especially when they agree with your own. Critical opinions can be useful too; they help us improve ourselves, when they are given with good intentions and in a constructive way. The thing about opinions is that they are opinions not givens. Just because you feel that something should be done a certain way, does not mean that it has to be done that way. Giving an opposing opinion, should allow its recipient to be open to thought and not necessarily action.

Open people can take critical opinions, analyze them in respect to their own opinions and then make better decisions. Those that are set in their opinions and unwilling to change, cannot grow. Schools should give courses on opinion sharing and making choices. That should also be a required course that every politician had to get certified in, prior to running for or being appointed to an office.

Whiplash!

    The first district superintendent that I worked for had a saying which in effect was, “A clean, organized, orderly desk does not necessarily demonstrate that good teaching is going on.”

    It’s a good thing he believed that too. If you ever looked at the organization of my desk when I taught, or my writing desk now, you certainly wouldn’t get the impression that I care about what I do. However, if you ask my ex-students and read some of my blogs, you get a better picture of who I am. As an organized person, I have my moments. But deep down, where it’s not always visible, I’m me.

Whiplash!

    So are you an optimist, a pessimist, or do you have your own category of description? And what about opinions? Do you have any? Which ones are the strongest and less likely to change? Are you willing to change? In looking at yourself, how are your organization skills? Do they reflect who you really are?

My organizational chart says…next up is: “P”culiar, that’s what this whole thing is. I know I put it somewhere.