Often people shy away from “blowing their own trumpet” (i.e. talking about their good points, be it personality, looks, achievements etc.)
When I was a form tutor of a group who were applying to university I used to spend a lot of time persuading them to write about their good points on the application forms. Some of my students weren’t even aware of their good points.
Another thing I did when I was a teacher was with some behaviourally challenged children. I would try to catch them doing something good. Yes, something good. Then give them real praise and build up from there.
One 14 year old girl was a local gang leader, and quite a challenge to teach. One day I walked into the classroom to find her drawing on the board. Rather good cartoons, in fact.
I caught her doing something good. So I sectioned off an area of the board for her to do this before each of our lessons. (I arrived later than they did most lessons as I came from the other side of the school.)
She’d never had genuine praise and appreciation before. She became my unofficial assistant and once told a youth (who had come onto school grounds to cause a nuisance) to go away because I was OK, so he should do as I asked. He did!
First task:
Imagine you are applying for something you would love to do and you are asked to write one thing which you think is really good about yourself, what would that be?
Second task:
Catch yourself doing or having done something good, and give yourself appreciation for being you, for courage, for persistence, for caring, for smiling at someone, for thanking someone, for seeing patterns in the clouds, for loving the colours in a soap bubble...
I think it is important in our retraining that we are able to be grateful for, to appreciate and also to acknowledge to ourselves, who we are and how we live our lives.
Blow your own trumpet for yourself.
Margaret Cory, one of the Gupta Graduates.
Margaret Cory
Having been forced to stop working aged 53 due to CFS, I was later diagnosed with Fibromyalgia as well. (With the added challenges of hypersensitivity to chemicals, smells, various foodstuffs, bright light, noise, etc.)
10 years later I found the Gupta Program and started my recovery. Wanting to pay back some small part of what I owe the Gupta Program I later volunteered to be a moderator in the Facebook Gupta Forum.
I love Margaret’s comment about the colours in the soap bubble. When we see the wonder in things such as these, the present moment is amplified with joy and gratitude. How amazing we are to be able to receive it.
Thank you, Andrea,
It was pinched from something Ashok said about being mindful and finding joy in the things around you. He mentioned the colours in soap bubbles and that remained with me ever since, giving me something of beauty to focus on when washing up.
xxx