24/7, 365 – Christmas All The Time… Why Not?

13 Monday Dec 2021

Posted by The Book Chamber in Actions, Christmas, Consistency, Emotion, Engagement, Essence, Family, Friendship, Gift, Giving, Grace, Gratitude, Intentional, Kindness, Relationships, Servant, Sincerity

≈ Leave a comment

Here’s the “thing” I have noticed about me… The older I get, the more I pay attention to the lyrics of songs. Don’t read this and ask yourself, “Seriously?” Anyway… yes. I don’t know why, but I do. So, the other night, driving home, Christmas Time by Bryan Adams came on the radio, and for some reason, the words took on a different meaning… Look at the lyrics throughout the song…

We waited all through the year
For the day to appear
When we could be together in harmony

You know the time will come
Peace on earth for everyone
And we can live forver in a world where we are free
Let it shine for you and me

There’s something about Christmas time
Something about Christmas time
Makes you wish it was Christmas every day
To see the joy in the children’s eyes
The way that the old folks smile
Says that Christmas will never go away

We’re all as one tonight
Makes no difference if you’re black or white
‘Cause we can sing together in harmony
I know it’s not too late
The world would be a better place
If we could keep the spirit more than one day in the year
Send a message loud and clear

It’s the time of year everyone’s together
And celebrate here on Christmas day
When the ones you love are there
You can feel the magic in the air, you know it’s everywhere

There’s something about Christmas time
Please tell me Christmas will never go away

The month of November, with Thanksgiving, and the month of December, with Christmas, has a way of stirring emotions that just maybe, are not.. let’s say “used” during the other months. Why?

Take one more example… below is a speech in The Honeymooners by Ralph Kramden, played by Jackie Gleason, speaking to his wife Alice, played by Audrey Meadows, (Yes, we watch The Honeymooners at our house.) To watch, click here: Ralph Kramden’s Christmas Speech

“You know something, sweetheart? Christmas is… well, it’s about the best time of the whole year. When you walk down the streets, even for weeks before Christmas comes, and there’s lights hanging up, green ones and red ones, sometimes there’s snow and everyone’s hustling someplace. But they don’t hustle around Christmas time like they usually do. You know, they’re a little more friendlier… they bump into you, they laugh, and they say, “Pardon me. Merry Christmas,”… especially when it gets real close to Christmas night. Everybody’s walking home; you can hardly hear a sound. Bells are ringin’, kids are singing, the snow is coming down. And boy, what a pleasure it is to think that you’ve got someplace to go to. And that the place that you’re going to, there’s somebody in it that you really love. Someone, you’re nuts about. Merry Christmas.”

I get it; Christmas is one day out of the year. But, what if… we made our hearts live as if it were Christmas all the other days? I get it; feelings (those that are positive and good) are different at Christmas. But what if… our hearts wrapped up those feelings and carried them January – November? I get it; … you can fill in the rest with your own thoughts.

As we move into the middle of December and closer to Christmas day, the more thoughts, feelings, emotions are stirred because it is Christmas time; it might be just because I am getting older. Nonetheless, we would all be better if we celebrated Christmas joy all through the year. In the end, I guess it can boil down to what I have always said, “Just do right by people.”

Live life as if it were Christmas everyday, why not? Merry Christmas everyone. This coming Friday will be the last blog of 2021 and it will be my 2021 Christmas Thoughts Poem…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or following the blog directly.

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…

Valentine’s Musings…

11 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by The Book Chamber in Actions, Family, Heart, Listening, Love, Relationships

≈ Leave a comment

Valentine’s…

The day we are told to celebrate our love for others…

Chocolates, flowers, and cards… Priced much higher than usual, just to show how much more we love for only one day? It is amazing to me how the price suddenly drops on February 15.

Those chocolates taste the same, you know, and they are 75% off. You can truly get an assortment of assorted flavors. Also, you don’t feel bad about not liking a particular type and spitting it out. Paying full price makes you eat the ones you don’t care for.

And the flowers… aka ROSES. Yes, the ones that will die, even if you do use the plant food packet that comes with it… don’t we know they are dead already when they are cut? I tell Heather, “I’ll buy you a rose bush… that way we can plant it, and you can have roses anytime you want, all year long. You pick out the spot, and I’ll dig the hole.” Now that’s what I call love.

And the cards… You know the ones that bring the response, “Oh, that was so sweet of you.” The funny thing about cards… Someone else is really doing the talking for $7.95, and three days later… the garbage can. And if it is not a Hallmark, well… you just didn’t “…care enough to send the very best.”

I know… but you are saying, “It’s the thought that counts.”

Yes, the thought… Where is that same thought for the other 364 days of the year?

The thought… Why don’t we ever say, “It’s the action that counts.” Is love not suppose to be a verb, the action of doing? I can think a lot of stuff, but if action is never there, then what good is the thought. It just falls on deaf ears, mine and yours alone.

So, what does love look like in action? I cannot answer that for you, nor can you answer that for me. What works for you might not work for me and vice versa. But I do have some ideas…

Love…
Makes the bed, picks up in the house, does the laundry, feeds the dogs, bathes the dogs, sacrifices their time for others, watches an action-killing movie instead of a chick-flick (or the other way around), goes to the grocery store, takes walks, rides bikes, drives the vehicle because you don’t like to drive, plans meals to make sure we eat healthy, empties the dishwasher, holds your hand, brags on you, provides a Godly example to our daughter, prays for the family… Love will even read your blog on Thursday nights to make sure it is all in order.

Love can also listen, laugh, and even cry. But more important than all of the above…

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…” (I Corinthians 13:4-8b, ESV).

Happy Valentine’s Day

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on…

Twitter

Instagram

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…

My Pet Peeves… Drives Me Crazy…

06 Friday Nov 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Attitude, Balance, Choice, Emotion, Family, Importance, Intentions, Leader, Leadership, Pet Peeves, Reflection, Relationships

≈ 5 Comments

Ok… showing our age now…

How many of you remember the song “She Drives Me Crazy” by Fine Young Cannibals? Sorry if that song is stuck in your head now…

“…She drives me crazy
And I can’t help myself…”

Well, consider everything that is going on around us and the differences of many opinions we each have; instead of opening the phrase with “she,” open it up with “whatever” drives me/you crazy…

I have a lot of pet peeves. I have so many; I have a zoo. The bad thing is, I feed every one of those peeves; messy little critters, they are. Just like any other pets, I love on them, play fetch, rub their belly, scratch their ears… You get the idea. Also, those peeves rub me the wrong way, make me cringe, get under my skin, pull what little hair I have out, wake me up at night, and shut down my breathing sometimes (my mom and dad should get a laugh out of that one).

But… what I have come to realize, while those peeves are always going to be there, it is ME that drives myself crazy. I have a choice as to if I feed them and welcome them into my life… or not. Also, I choose what I want to think about, and for some part, how I feel about them. I know it is hard to get “stuff” out of your mind, and for some reason, “things” will always linger around, triggered by something or someone to make you start thinking again.

I do acknowledge that there are real problems in people’s lives. I am not dismissing or diminishing that fact. What I am talking about is trying NOT driving yourself crazy with all those peeves.

Things that I have to sometimes tell myself…
Go to sleep and don’t wake up at midnight about something you saw on social media.
Quit keeping up with what all you have done wrong lately. Laugh at your trivial mistakes.
Set some reasonable, attainable goals. Get things done early; that way, you can have accomplishments.
Hang out with like-minded, kindred-spirited people. This is huge…
Most of all, be thankful for the love of family and your real pets (not those peeves).

As we approach Thanksgiving, start thinking about your “thankfulness” and quit feeding the pet peeves. They don’t taste very well anyway, and they are tough to chew.

Yes, some things drive me crazy, and maybe, I can help myself…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on…

Twitter

Instagram

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…

Gimme A Break… Spring Break That Is…

06 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by The Book Chamber in Family, Rest, Spring Break, Teachers, Time

≈ Leave a comment

This week is one of four weeks we all long for as educators… Yes, I said, educators. The other three include the week before Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the end of school. As I listen in the hallway, I hear teachers say, “Four more days; Three more days; I will be glad when Friday gets here…”

The need for Spring Break is real, even for teachers. That long break between Christmas and now… The hard thing, though, is making Spring Break last. Joking, at my house, at noon on Wednesday, I say, “Well, Spring Break is over.” I immediately get “fused at” by my family, but it is fun nonetheless.

So, how do we make Spring Break last? I believe it is by not focusing on what you have to do when we come back. Look at what you get to do next week (if you want to)…

Sleep late
Wear anything you want
Go anywhere you want, when you want
Eat when you want
Go to the bathroom when you want
Stay up later than normal
Take care of that much needed “stuff to do” around the house
Did I mention sleep late…?

You get the idea. What you do not need to do is think about the things that you do not have to do. By now, we are at our “wit’s end” trying to keep everything and everyone on the same page. Too often, we cannot rest, relax, and rejuvenate because of our lack of planning beforehand. Get what you need to be done for when we come back today and leave it. The goal is for you to leave the classroom mentally. You know the students do…

Being an educator is exhausting. The 10-12 hours a day get long, and that is just inside the building. What about the time outside the building? Yes, you need a break too. Go ahead and actually take it. Your family will probably appreciate it as much as you do.

I hope each of you has a great one. We will pick back up with the blogs AFTER Spring Break.

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on…