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Random archive letters from other years part 6 |
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________________________________________ Patience Bares Sweet Fruit Monday, January 8, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Patient Ones! Our world of instant response, instant gratification, instant replay, instant reward, and instant communication has really put a hit on the valuable character trait of patience. We don’t practice being patient very well and so we have a tough time exercising patience. Practicing patience is an opportunity that comes to us once in awhile that we need to seize, take hold, and learn in an enduring way. Let me give you two personal examples from this year. The first long patience opportunity I want to share occurred last summer in California. My wife and daughter are shopping maniacs. When we were driving back from a conference in San Diego, they decided that we should stop at the Carlsbad Outlet Mall on the Pacific Coast. This mall was huge with a couple of hundred stores and shops. It is not the type of environment that I like to find myself, but Susan and Christine were excited about the chance to shop. I pulled in there about noon and didn’t leave until seven hours had been consumed. They shopped. I waited. It was an opportunity to practice patience. I wanted to be driving, but I waited. And guess what, I wasn’t the only husband/father waiting. As I sat and read the afternoon away, I also watched another man sit and read a couple of newspapers, and a different man put his seat back and sleep for awhile, and I even witnessed a man get a kit out of his trunk and proceed to clean his windows and the chrome on his vehicle. We were all waiting and we were all practicing patience. Some were more successful than others. It was learning in an enduring way. The second long patience opportunity I want to share happened last week. As I ventured home from spending the holidays in California, I found myself in a weather mess. Saturday, the fog from the snow and cold temperature slowed the traffic down considerably. Our speed varied from 5 to 35 miles per hour, until Albuquerque, New Mexico, when it came to a virtual stop. I actually continued to try to drive east well after midnight and made it over the mountain before the authorities closed Interstate 40. I slept a very cold night in the back of the car hoping that the freeway would be open Sunday morning. It was, but just until the accidents started closing it. I ended up parked on I-40 for over five hours before we moved, and that was only about one hundred yards. Then an hour later we crawled forward a little more. It was a slow progressive process, but after most of the day I still had not gone many miles. Eventually things improved and by Monday I was traveling close to normal again. It was a trying time for my patience, but it was another opportunity to practice being calm and controlling the only thing I could, my own attitude and perspective. It was learning in an enduring way. Please listen to this quote about patience.
Patience is a bitter plant, but it has sweet fruit.
Patience is a tough teacher and requires much of us. Patience is our individual capacity to endure in a calm, cool way. It requires us to be understanding of situations and tolerant with people and things as they happen. Our patience is tried when we need it most. And if we are successful with being patient, it almost always benefits us. As the quote says patience bears sweet fruit. Sometimes it is hidden back in the plant and you have to look for it, but it is always there. You might ask what the sweet fruits from my two examples were. That’s easy. In the first example the fruit was the unbelievable excitement and joy that my wife and daughter received from their shopping experience. I loved listening to them continue to talk with each other about the deals and savings as I drove home. There was so much energy and zeal in their conversation. The fruit born in the second example was that I had a safe trip. My patience kept me from making a poor decision and getting in one of the accidents that I witnessed. Being patient in my journey permitted me to get safely home to my family. Being patient and calm allowed me time to reflect on what was important in life, especially in this new year of 2007. I encourage you to learn from the bitter plant of patience. Look for the fruit it bears when you successfully endure through patience. I challenge you to practice being a patient person. Patient people have better lives. Always remember that patience is learning through an enduring way. Not all learning is instant or even fast. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
We All Make Mistakes Tuesday, January 9, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Imperfect Ones! Every year when Mrs. Treece and I go into the 7th grade classroom, we discuss several key principles. One of the more important points is that as humans we are not perfect. Now I know that there are some people that think they are perfect and there are some that just think they’re closer to perfect than most. But those people who think that way are only being untruthful to themselves and rude to everyone else. Mistakes are a part of life. A healthy perspective is that mistakes are self-teaching experiences. Sometimes we learn from mistakes the first time. And unfortunately, some of us are slower learning from our mistakes and we end up repeating them a few times. A mistake is an error or fault. Most of the mistakes we make everyday only impact us individually. When it is with another person it is usually a misconception or a misunderstanding. What all of us should strive toward is to only make mistakes that we can overcome or recover from in a short period of time. We need to avoid the mistakes that create permanent change or force a damaging impact on our lives. Forgetting to study for a test can be corrected. Running in front of traffic on a dark street might not be survived. We have a different level of responsibility when our mistakes impact others in negative or harmful ways. Listen closely to what comedienne, Whoopi Goldberg says about mistakes.
“I am a human being, so I make lots of mistakes. But if I’ve unknowingly been neglectful or cruel or hurtful to someone, then I try to rectify it as soon as I am aware of it.”
What Ms. Goldberg is expressing here is that she will not allow a mistake that she makes that inadvertently hurts someone else go uncorrected. She believes that mistakes against others could and should be corrected when they are recognized. She knows that she has hurt people in the past with her mistakes and although she will try not to do so, she knows that her future mistakes may hurt people. Ms. Goldberg though has settled in her mind that she will correct and repair things when she discovers that she has unknowingly been cruel or hurtful to an individual. Is that a philosophy that any one can adopt? Is a middle school student able to approach life with that intent? I believe in middle school students being able to accomplish mature tasks. I always have had that belief. Middle schoolers have shown me repeatedly that they can correct their mistakes. I challenge you to always carefully examine your mistakes, and if you have inadvertently harmed someone, do your best to fix it. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely. Value Your Time Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Terrifics! After a full five days of school are you asking yourself where did the time of the holiday break go? Do you think that sometimes time flies by and sometimes it drags? Do you think about the use of your time at all? What is a waste of time and what is a good use of time? Do you recognize that we are all equal with each other about getting each day? If you’re eleven years old, you get 24 hours in a day. If you’re the principal of a school, you get 24 hours in a day. If you’re the head coach of a college basketball team, you get 24 hours in a day. If you’re the President of the United States of America, the most powerful person in the free world, you still only get 24 hours in a day. Listen closely to this anonymous proverb given to me by a student.
A lost inch of gold may be found, a lost inch of time never.
There are a few people in this world that can say all of their time has been well spent, but most of us have experiences where time seems to have slipped right through our fingers. No one has control over time. A person can forcibly take the face off a clock and break the hands, but that won’t stop time. We can even pass a law where there are no clocks or mechanisms to measure time, but time will still continue. Even the end of time some day will not really be the end of time. No one can slow time down or speed time up. We can live slower or live faster, but time carries on at the same rate. Our seasons come and our seasons go every year, and have been forever. Life is not as simple as just living and dying on some time line, but in actuality it is what you do within your life span, whether it is 10 years or 100 years. Time will continue even if we say we don’t believe it. A real evident example is that it continues when we sleep. It does not stop as if it were in a fictional work of writing that you read and then close and set on the nightstand or in some science fiction movie that you view at your leisure. We should choose to use it to the best of our ability and that is how we will measure success with it. Our success with time is based on how we choose to use it. What plans or goals have you set to make sure that your limited time in life is well spent? Do you recognize that your life is a one-time gift? It can’t be done over. We each are only given one day at a time to do the best we are able to do with whatever situation we find ourselves in. We get the gift of one day at a time in portions of one hour at a time. I encourage you to improve yourself one hour at a time, and I challenge you to make the changes necessary for your 2007 year to be the best you have ever experienced. We will all get 2007 just once. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
An Unexpected Story Remembered Thursday, January 11, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Great Shakers! About two weeks ago the news in my home town revisited an event that happened three years in the past. My wife and kids and I were at my parents’ home for the 2003 Christmas holidays. On the morning of Monday, December 22, the Central Coast of California had a fairly strong earthquake. It registered a 6.5 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was seven miles from San Simeon, which is where Hearst Castle is located. My parents’ home is about an hour south of where the earthquake hit the hardest. My son and I were sitting in the sunroom reading and my daughter was actually in the shower at the time. It was my kids’ first experience with the ground moving on its own in a sudden fashion. Joshua looked at me immediately and I told him it was an earthquake as things moved around. The sensation was unbelievable for the human mind. How could solid flooring move like a waterbed? It seemed like we were on one of those moonwalk big toys. It lasted about six seconds. I told Joshua to get outside if another one occurred. Sometimes what people think is the main shake is actually a precursor. I went into the main part of the house and shouted through the bathroom door to see if Christine was okay. She said she was, but sounded scared and not very confident in what had just happened. I told her that she had just experienced a pretty strong shaking from an earthquake. She quickly dressed and came out to the sunroom. I checked the house since my folks were gone. I saw no major problems, but the pictures were askew and some had come off the wall and broke. My mom’s curio cabinet was standing fine, but several figurines had fallen over and a few were broken. I couldn’t see any cracks in the wall or ceiling, nor did I find any in the concrete areas outside. The power was out and the phone lines weren’t operating. The movement of the earth had been such that I was surprised that there was no more damage than we saw. Cell phones were in massive use. I contacted my mother and wife, who were shopping and they were fine, in fact they were in a parking lot, and my mother thought I had found them shopping and was bouncing on the car to make it shake. I called my father and he was okay at work. He was on a level piece of land with his tractor on one side and his truck on the other. The earthquake made them move in opposite directions, which stunned my dad. The bottom line was that every one was okay and unharmed, and only suffered a bit of nausea and motion sickness. Unfortunately, there were two fatalities from the quake and they occurred in a small town named Paso Robles. A turn of the century building collapsed and killed a 19-year-old woman and her 71-year-old friend. It all happened at 9:16 a.m. In fact, the quake caused the pendulum in my mother’s grandfather clock to stop swinging, so the clock stopped at 9:16 a.m. My kids have been to California a couple of dozen times and have been there at Christmas 11 times, but they could not have predicted they would experience an earthquake. The earthquake was a prime example of what makes today’s quote so true.
No one can expect or predict everything that will happen to them. He can only know how to respond.
This quote doesn’t suggest a person can’t make a logical guess about what will happen in their future, but if they are right, they can’t excuse the luck factor. Those two people who died had had another person with them just seconds before the quake hit and the building fell apart. That young lady that survived had left the building because her father had telephoned from across the street and asked her to help him in his drug store window display. Good fortune or a guardian angel can be credited. So can simple luck. Since we can’t predict or expect all of the possible things that can happen to us, it is all the more important to take advantage of the things that you can predict. The best example for middle school students is that if you work hard, study well, seize educational opportunities and make the best choices possible, you will provide yourself with a great education and potentially successful future. Here’s a fact for all of you. Over 93% of people with a high school education can avoid dealing with poverty in their lives. That should tell you how important an education is and it should give you at least one thing that you can feel confident in predicting for yourself. How are you responding to your chance at an education? How are you responding to the opportunity to improve yourself academically? Are you responding in ways to make yourself a better person? I hope so. I truly hope so. I encourage you to make the choices that demonstrate that you do control your responses and that your responses benefit you and those close to you. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely. Truthfulness Friday, January 12, 2007
Good day, Sequoyah Students! What does the personal character trait of truthfulness mean to you? How does another person’s definition of truthfulness impact your life? Do you understand that the opposite of truthfulness is deception and dishonesty? Let’s check the definition of the word in the friendly dictionary. Truthfulness is having the habit of representing the truth. It’s telling the facts, all the facts. It is earning future trust with people by accurately reporting past facts. A truthful person always gives accurate and complete information and is faithful to the facts. That means that if a student is telling me about something that happened, he reports everything to me. He shares all the facts of the situation. He shares with me not only the actions and statements of another student, but he also lets me know about his own actions and comments. If I am being asked to help solve a problem, then I have to have all the facts. Someday most of you will be parents. When that happens you may find yourself using this quote from yours or others’ parents. Listen and see if you have ever heard one of your parents say it:
“…and I’ll know if you’re not telling the truth.”
The first ten years of your life, your parents could probably tell if you weren’t being truthful. I remember the first time that my son, Joshua purposely fibbed to me. I walked back to his bedroom one day when he was four years old. He was underneath his bed and all I could see were his two little legs sticking out, and so I asked him what he was doing. His legs fired a quick jolt of shock that I was there and he scrambled out from under his bed, quickly blurted out that he was doing nothing, and then left his room. After he had gone down the hall, I decided to check under the bed and found one of his new toys broken. He had pulled the legs off of a He-man figure. I am sure he was just trying to understand how they worked. I set the figure and the legs on Joshua’s bed and went and brought him back into his room. I talked to him about telling the truth, even when a mistake had occurred. I shared with him that the broken legs of a toy are nothing compared to the broken trust between a father and his son. He has practiced truthfulness with me for the most part in his 26 years of life. Do you practice truthfulness? Is it important for your friendships and other relationships to be habitually truthful? I encourage you to be full of truth each and every day. If you haven’t done so in the past, now at the beginning of a New Year, only two weeks into it, is a great time to start. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely. ________________________________________ It’s A Wonderful Life! Monday, December 18, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Wonderful Ones! My favorite movie to watch is “It’s A Wonderful Life.” It has been shown over and over during the month of December. I remember a few years ago that one station showed it around the clock for 48 consecutive hours. What a Wonderful Life marathon! The movie stars Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, and was made by Frank Capra right after World War II was completed. It was a movie needed at that time for our country and the people were ready for it. Citizens of the United States and other countries around the world had lost so much in the lives of loved ones and families. The movie was made with this message, “We all impact the world in ways we don’t think about and if we didn’t exist, we would leave a big hole.” Through out the movie George Bailey makes decisions that are unselfish and he always is putting others’ welfare ahead of his own. I first saw it when I was eleven years old. I was the kind of kid that would wake up at 2:00 a.m. on Christmas morning and not be able to go back to sleep. Kids didn’t have televisions in their bedrooms in those days, so I went out to the living room and watched television by the lights of the Christmas tree. I loved that the movie was in black and white, and I would spread out on the couch and watch it in the dark. The twinkling lights on the tree, the silence of the house, and the time of the morning all gave the movie a special effect. It was a great experience that I will always remember. I wanted to be the main character George Bailey. I was fascinated with the idea of what life would be like if I had never existed. Listen to some of the lines from the movie:
“You’ve been given a great gift George! A chance to see what the world would be like without you.” “Strange isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around it leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he? You see, George, you really had a wonderful life. Don’t you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?” “Clarence! Clarence! Help me, Clarence. Get me back. Get me back. I don’t care what happens to me. Only get me back to my wife and kids. Help me, Clarence, please. Please! I want to live again!”
Those are simply wonderful lines, I love to hear them, and I love to read them, and I even get a kick from saying them aloud. The movie helps me keep the following ten words in mind about every person I meet, and I believe it about each person in this building. Listen closely:
The world would be a very different place without you.
I hope you will give the sentence serious thought and careful consideration. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely. Holiday Reflections Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Reflecting Ones! One of the more pleasant activities that a person can do requires no batteries, no additional parts, no upgrades, no installations, no formatting, no extension cords, no directions in four languages, no demonstration videos, and no remote control. What pleasant activity am I thinking about? That’s it—THINKING. And more specifically I am speaking of thinking back wards, putting the process in reverse and thinking about the past experiences in your life. It’s a free activity, costing you nothing, but a little bit of time. When you think about events and experiences that have happened in your life, you are doing exactly what I ask of you each and every day. You are reflecting. That means that you are contemplating about your past. You ruminate on some of your experiences, and that is another way of saying that you really are chewing on them and maybe even reliving them in your mind. That’s one of the best gifts about reflecting; you can relive some of your fondest and most cherished experiences. Thinking about your past is a chance to recollect what has been important in your life and the lives of the people around you. It is actually an exercise in memory. It is making the effort to revisit episodes or occurrences that you have built in to your memory. Reflecting is taking mental impressions and reapplying them to the present. The older you become the more reflecting you will do. I promise you. I remember a lot of my past because I purposely take the time to reflect. Holiday reflections can be the best. You remember being with loved ones, both family and friends. And part of that memory was that everyone made it a priority to be together, maybe in a family home or a place of worship or a nice restaurant or a unique travel destination. Holiday reflections should be a significant part of everyone’s life. If your parents, or family, or friends see you just sitting and thinking during the two weeks out of school, don’t respond with, “I’m thinking about nothing.” Your thoughts are always on something. A long time ago a philosopher explained what “thinks” about nothing. Listen to his wise words.
“Nothing is what a rock thinks about.” -Aristotle
Although I have been accused of being hard headed like a rock, I am not a rock, and neither are you. Sometimes reflecting can be like studying a situation or an experience that was exceptionally pleasant and learning why it was so. Reflecting is a fourth of my 4 R’s. I encourage you, and I guess, I challenge you to read, rest, relax and reflect over the two- week Christmas holiday break. Happy Holidays and God Bless all of you! With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely. ________________________________________ The Gift from the Heart Monday, December 11, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Memorables! Do you ever wish you had a job to make enough money to buy great gifts for all the people you love and care about during this time of year? Do you wonder about the gifts given to you? What makes a gift valuable? Does a sacrifice make a gift of great worth? A gift is special when it was given with the requirement of a sacrifice of time, or money, or personal sentimentality, or loss. I remember the first time that I planned, purchased, and provided a gift at my own expense to the members of my family. I only had $10.00 that I had earned raking leaves for two days. I went to the store as a 10-year-old boy and found a necklace for my mother, and one for my grandmother, who was living with us. I spent almost seven dollars on the two costume jewelry necklaces. In my mind, they were valuable pieces of jewelry, and in fact, one necklace was returned to me after my grandmother passed away. I took the remainder of my money and purchased a coloring book for each of my two brothers and sister, and then a box of crayons for them to share. So I had gifts for five of the six people living in my home. Guess who was left out? I had no money left, and I had to find a gift for my dad. Now keep in mind that this was the year before my dad crashed my remote control airplane. So my lack of a gift for him had nothing to do with the destroyed plane that I never got to fly on my own. In my desire to give everyone a gift I had no choice, but to give up something that was important to me. For over a year I had a treasure that I had found on the way home from school. I walked home down the train tracks sometimes, and one day I had found a railroad tie nail and in my imagination I had turned it into one of the original nails from the First Transcontinental Railroad. It was an historical find and it was mine. So for that Christmas in 1966, I wrapped my railroad nail and gave it to my father as a gift. What do you think he thought about opening that gift and finding a rusty old nail the size of a tent stake? My guess now is that he probably had a tough time not laughing. But at the time he accepted it graciously, because he loved me and knew that I had given the gift in love. The old railroad nail was of much greater value to me than the $10.00 worth of gifts, and yet I gave it up to the man that I loved and was proud to have as my father. Listen to this quote from Henry Drummond:
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.
I challenge you to do things in the spirit of love so that you will have really lived life to the fullest. That should be your daily choice—to live life to the fullest. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Seize the Opportunity to Learn Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Ladies and Gentlemen! This season of the calendar year is a time of reverence and celebration. It is a time of giving and receiving. It is a time that people focus their care and concern on others. It is a time when love becomes an action carried out each day in simple, kind gestures. People in the United States celebrate remarkable holidays of great significance like, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwaanza, and Rama-danh. There are many other activities and events identified with specific individual beliefs. We have an opportunity to learn from these wonderful events in people’s lives. When I was teaching my first year in 1978, I had an amazing young man as a student named Michael Cohen. He was an exceptional 7th grader, and during this time of year, he happened to turn 13 years old. He was a follower of the Jewish faith and so he had the honor of having a bar mitzvah. I was invited to the worship service in which he read from the Torah, and he read the scripture from these huge scrolls spread on a table-like podium. I was so impressed because he was required to read the Hebrew language that it was written in, and he read it so well. Michael had been studying Hebrew for quite some time. I was proud to watch his leadership in the worship service, and also because I considered him a friend. He demonstrated how important learning was and how essential preparation was in sharing what was learned. Was this learning experience worthwhile for me? Absolutely! All of us need to approach life with the attitude that we seize opportunities to learn. We should always be learning people. Listen to this quote from James Collins:
Becoming a learning person certainly involves responding to every situation with learning in mind.
My friend, Michael, is 44 years old now. He graduated from Harvard University School of Law and is a practicing attorney in Los Angeles, California. He is a published author and a wonderful father now. I have had the opportunity to attend other bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs of students from Sequoyah and Cimarron. All have been great learning experiences for me personally because I am not a member of the Jewish community. I encourage you to have learning in mind each day in your life. If you do, then the best experiences of life and learning will happen for you. And they will occur for you no matter what your age happens to be. Be a learning person. Keep learning in mind. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Gift of Friendship Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Students! What I love about the holidays is being with my friends. I have always considered the holidays to be as long as the five weeks from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. During that time, I always have enjoyed being around the people that have common interests and similar values as I have. We get a kick out of the same jokes and find humor in the same things, and love retelling stories from our memories of shared experiences. Listen to this quote from Ben Johnson:
True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in the worth and choice.
When I was in junior high school, one of my best friends was Allen Ughoc (pronounced Ug-hawk). He lived down the street from me and during the winter break we would spend every day together all day. We would share at least two of the three meals each day together and spend the night at each other’s house six or seven nights out of the two weeks. I responded to his parents like they were mine and he did likewise with my parents. It almost seemed like we were brothers. What did I like best about Allen? He respected me when I disagreed with him. We never let a difference keep us from being friends, and I know that is tough as a middle school kid. Allen Ughoc was born in Hawaii, and his parents were citizens of the Philippine Islands. He was smart and he was an outstanding athlete. Allen was one of several friends from junior high, but what gave a kid like me true happiness was that he was such a good friend, and he chose me to be a friend. Our gift to each other during the holidays was the time we spent together. I believe our friendship made us truly happy because it was by choice and it was of worth. I encourage you to spend time with friends over the two weeks out of school. Show your friends true friendship, and remember what Ben Johnson said about contentment.
True happiness consists not in the multitude of friends, but in the worth and choice.
I challenge you to be a worthy, choice friend to others. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
Are You Santa Claus? Thursday, December 14, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Givers! Approximately three years ago, I went to Norman on a Friday night to watch our seventh grade basketball teams play in the Longfellow Tournament. I enjoyed the intense competition that both the boys and girls presented in their games then, as we do now. During the boys’ game, one of the little brothers of two of our girls’ team members came up to me and asked a question that I have heard before, especially around this time of year. He said,
“Oh, are you Santa Claus?”
As much as I would have liked to say yes, I didn’t. Instead, I played a little with the story. I told him that Santa Claus was my big brother. From there we ended up talking for about fifteen minutes and he had an armload of questions, “Have you been to the North Pole?” “Where are the toys?” “How many reindeer are there?” “What do they eat?” “Do the elves play in the snow?” And there were many, many others. I’m not sure how old he was, maybe three or four, but he reminded me about Santa Claus and what the myth symbolizes. He is now a first or second grade student at Northern Hills and has another sister at Sequoyah. Are the kids that collect toys and gifts for young kids at the Hope Center considered Santa Claus? Are the students that bring food items to provide meals for others Santa Claus? What about the students that give the gift of music to the residents of a retirement center that have lived 70 or 80 or 90 years? Are they Santa Claus? Is the lady ringing the bell for the Salvation Army to be considered Santa Claus? How about the students that bring a small gift anonymously to a teacher they care about and just simply set it on the desk when no one is looking? Is that student Santa Claus? Is the student who offers loyal friendship Santa Claus? Are the students on a team that collect items for one particular family in need in order for them to have a good holiday a Santa Claus? Are the students that have brought their coins and money for the Centennial Statue Santa Claus? What about the family that spends the 25th of December serving meals in a shelter for the homeless? What about the family that opens their home to a foreign exchange student or offers to provide canned food to the hope center or buys a sack of groceries for a family in need? What about the people who donate jackets and coats for the homeless to stay warm? Are they Santa Claus? I believe that anyone at any age can be a Santa Claus for someone. Like all things in life, it is a choice. A person can choose to give a gift to someone else. Keep in mind that a gift doesn’t have to be a tangible object. It can be as simple as a promise or a commitment, a smile or a wave of recognition. So I ask you the same question that I get asked once in a while, “Are you Santa Claus?" With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely. Gift Wrap the Season! Friday, December 15, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Wrappers! A few letters back, I wrote one for you that I mentioned traditions and how important they were to families and informal groups. Short traditions may really just be practices. One of the traditions or practices for this time of year that we had in our home until the kids were in middle school was to read a different holiday story each evening. We did this from Thanksgiving evening through Christmas evening. It was also part of the tradition to have them gift wrapped so that we initiated the reading for the evening by opening the book as a gift. The kids loved it when they were really small because they felt like they were opening a gift every night before bedtime for a month. I had collected Christmas type books for years so we had plenty to choose from each December. It wasn’t until the kids were in the upper elementary grades that they could pick the wrapped books up and guess which story was going to be read. By that time they were actually choosing to read to me. The tradition or practice helped us establish the right spirit for the season each year. Unfortunately they outgrew the tradition, but do you know what will happen someday when I am a grandfather? You guessed it! I am going to a see that tradition stirred awake and become part of another family. I encourage all of you to do something like this practice in ten to fifteen years when you become parents. The book wrapped tradition is important to me for a couple of reasons. One is that it represents my beliefs about books. They are really a gift to mankind. It seems they always have been around and I hope they always will be. They allow us to share ideas, thoughts, and beliefs. They engage us in learning and improve who we are and what we do. Secondly, I have always received books as a gift from my family. Always. To this day, I get a rush of adrenaline and excitement when I realize I am opening a gift that is a book from my mother and father. The two of them have made that impression in my life about books. Listen to this quote that I have used earlier this year from Walt Disney.
There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.
I really believe the treasure of books is real. All a person has to do is open a book and begin to read it. It is the same as opening a treasure and digging your fingers into gold coins and precious jewels, only you’re letting your mind do the digging when you read. Over the next two weeks I am going to try to read ten books. I challenge each of you to do the same or at least make the effort. After the holidays let me know how you did with your reading. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely. ________________________________________ Find Some Traditions Monday, December 4, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Cougars! We live in a country where tradition is important. We see rich tradition in sports, education, holidays, families, and religious beliefs. What exactly is tradition? It is an opinion, or belief or custom handed down, usually from one generation to another. All traditions have one thing in common; they had a first time. If your family got together two weeks ago for a Thanksgiving meal some of you took part in a dinner that has been part of a tradition for a few years, some for many years, and some for over fifty years. My wife and I have spent 28 of the last 30 Thanksgivings with family here in Edmond. It has been at Susan’s parents’ home the majority of the time, but not always. We have spent a couple in her grandparents’ home and a couple at the lake and this last one at her sister’s home. Traditions were exemplified many times this last weekend, and just the word itself, was used often in speaking of making memories. A tradition that is older is having my father-in-law say grace before the Thanksgiving meal. He has led the prayers prior to our meal all 28 times that I have sat at the holiday dinner with him. It is a tradition that marks the development of his family and the beliefs that he has handed down to his children and grandchildren. It will provide for future generations a long established perspective of what is meant by the holiday of Thanksgiving. A newer tradition, with its third time in the last four years, also occurred the day after the holiday. My brother-in-law, his two sons, my daughter and I continued an activity we have enjoyed. We repeated a family Polar Bear Club event at about 8:00 a.m. on that Friday. There was an air temperature of 52 degrees, when we jumped into a swimming pool that was ice cold. Water temperature was 40 degrees. The kids jumped out about as fast as they jumped in; it was like they bounced off a trampoline; my brother-in-law and I were quick to follow. It stung to be in the water, but we were all glad that we did it, and plan to do it again each year the day after Thanksgiving. We know that some future mornings will be warmer and unfortunately, we also know that some will be colder. We were just glad it wasn’t like last Friday with the snow and freezing air. Tradition is important to all of us. We don’t have a law or rule that says you must salute the flag of our country, but tradition tells us it is the right thing to do, especially during the Pledge of Allegiance or the National Anthem. We also pull our cars over to the side of the road when a funeral procession passes out of traditional respect. We have many valuable traditions that we never think about, but simply practice. What traditions do you hold dear and respect because it is the right thing to do? Listen to this anonymous quote about the subject.
Well-kept traditions connect us with our distant past.
When we keep traditions alive, it brings us closer to our history; whether it be family or community or culturally. When we start a tradition, we send something of ourselves to future generations. I encourage you to examine your traditions and keep them well. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
A Brilliant Diversity Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Diverse Ones! How do you feel about this time of year? Do you like the colder weather? Do you enjoy the focus on the holidays, both religious and secular? How about going to the different activities and events in homes, schools, churches, synagogues and those that communities plan? All of it is usually special, because it only happens once a year. In the next eleven days I hope you will listen to some of my memories about this season, its activities and its traditions. I probably learned some of my best lessons of life in the 51 Decembers I have experienced. Listen to this quote from the first President Bush, George Herbert Walker Bush.
We are a nation of communities, of tens and tens of thousands of ethnic, religious, social, business, labor union, neighborhood, regional and other organizations, all of them varied, voluntary, and unique . . . a brilliant diversity spread like stars, like a thousand points of light in a broad and peaceful sky.
I first learned how diverse my world was in fourth grade. Remember my friend Billy Lester? The friend who spit in my eye? He and I had a teacher named Mrs. Li (Lee). She was Japanese-American and as a child, she experienced one of the United States Internment Camps in California. The Interment Camps were places in the deserts of California where most of the Japanese-American citizens were kept during the Second World War. It was wrong for our country to do what it did. After that time in her life, she decided she wanted to be a teacher to help people learn to respect the differences of others. She was a great lady and shared the true meaning of respecting a diverse world with her students. In December of that 4th grade year, she made it a point to teach us twelve holiday songs. What made it special was that each song was taught and sung in a different language. I learned to sing, “Jingle Bells” in Norwegian, “O Christmas Tree” in German, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” in Japanese, and nine other songs including one for Hanukah. As a ten-year-old kid, I learned that the joy of the holidays was shared in similar emotion and feelings around the world. Mrs. Li was a Shinto follower, a different religion, and yet she taught us to accept her differences by respecting us and what each individual in her class believed or chose not to believe. Like President Bush said,
“Our world is a brilliant diversity.”
I challenge all of you to explore in a respectful manner the differences we all have. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely. Put Your Best Foot Forward Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Students! When I was a young kid, before my teenage years, my whole family went out to get a tree for the holidays. My dad was very similar to the dad in the movie A Christmas Story. He wanted to get a great tree, but he didn’t want to spend too much money on a tree that would lose its needles daily from the time we placed it in the house and would definitely be dead in two weeks. We would spend a couple of hours or more trying to find the tree that was just right, one that didn’t cost too much, but also one that would be a beautiful tree once decorated. After several near finds, we would eventually choose one that everyone liked. It never failed that when we got home and tried to decorate it, it would have a bad side. The bad side was not as full as the rest of the tree, or it had a funky shaped branch. We would always turn that side to the wall. In my memory, all the Christmas trees of my childhood were fantastic. I think it was because we always saw the best side. My father use to remind me on a regular basis to make a good appearance, and let people see the best side of me. He said it this way:
Jeff, always put your best foot forward.
I didn’t understand what he meant fully until I was 6 years old. I met his boss at a holiday gathering at the man’s house that he held for his employees and their families. I didn’t make the best of impressions in the first 30 minutes. I could tell you all that it was my big brother, Mike’s fault, but I was responsible for my own decision. Here’s what happened. My brother walked up with a wrapped gift and said that it was for me. I should have known better, but my poor decision was to choose to believe him. I also chose to open it. Inside was a baby doll. Needless to say, it was not a gift for me. It was one that my brother had pulled from under the boss’ family Christmas tree. Imagine this: Your principal as a six year old trying to sneak an opened gift back under another person’s tree. It didn’t work. I got caught and it ruined the evening for me. My dad made it clear that I had not put my best foot forward, and he made it clear in a forceful way. Believe me; I have made every effort to show my best side since then. I encourage all of you to put your best foot forward in the actions of your life. Show people your best side so that they will truly know you and appreciate who you are. And if you have an older brother or sister, be very skeptical if he or she gives a gift to you unexpectedly at someone else’s home. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely. Do It Well With Enthusiasm Thursday, December 7, 2006
Good day, Sequoyah Terrifics! During December people can count on many things. We can count on being busy. We can count on spending some money. We can count on witnessing either in person or on television the act of giving. It may be a gift of time, or a gift of something tangible like a card or present, or a gift of intangible things like love. Everyone can also count on holiday music concerts. Our vocal music groups will sing, and our bands and orchestras will play their instruments for family and friends. I encourage you to check the dates of the events and participate as an audience. I am always impressed with the musical talent of the students at Sequoyah. When I was in the second grade we did our elementary performance for the holidays one evening at the high school. We sang a bunch of holiday songs and they were short and cute because we were 8 year olds. Since we weren’t old enough to have great voices we were just loud and enthusiastic. I remember one song was “Up on the Rooftop.” The vocal music teacher had three boys step to the front of everyone to do the sounds of the reindeer hooves on the roof, and when we sang the words, “Click, click, click” the three of us slapped our feet to the floor. I believed that I was slapping the floor hard enough that I could be heard miles away. I slapped it so enthusiastically that my foot hurt when it was over. After the concert was completed, I didn’t ask my parents if they heard me when I sang, I just wanted to know if they heard my foot slapping the wooden stage floor. And of course, being supportive parents, they said they had and that I was the best they ever heard. Although I didn’t realize it then, my actions as a second grade student in a holiday music performance fit this anonymous quote.
Whatever positive thing you do in life, do it well, and do it with enthusiasm and joy because you’re getting to do it.
I challenge you to approach what you do in life with enthusiasm and joy. I encourage you to do it with the perception that it is an opportunity to better your life and make someone else’s life better as well. With words that I would like you to consider and reflect upon, make yours an exceptional life – or not. The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose. Please choose wisely.
-Melodic Time- · Mon Jun 16, 2008 @ 05:00am · 0 Comments |
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