Mindful May Day Meanderings...

Greetings y'all :

Looks to be a beautiful day in my neck of the woods. Sun is showing it's face again and the air is pleasant. I'd be hard pressed to relocate from this region. I love having seasons. Personally I like the myriad of weather we get here. The weather , like so many other things , is out of our control.

By now most of know the mantra " one can only control oneself" . Not to get all meta-physical on ya but that is one life's little truisms. You already know I firmly believe life is impermanent therefore even our reactions are impermanent. If we change the way we perceive or react , if we change our habits and know it will require multiple attempts to work then through perseverance we will replace our habits.

Perhaps the key word is replace. Remember if we always do what we always did we'll always get what we always got. But wait! The brain is magnificent machine full of neurons and growing dendrites and popping synapses! The brain/mind is malleable. The mind falls into our locust of control. We can change what we've always done or how we've always thought and create new habits. Neural plasticity gives us the ability to adapt and modify. Remember insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Habits and thought that we choose to alter must be replaced. Children don't have the skills and experience or wisdom to draw from to help themselves change or replace. The onus of that falls on the adult.

Imagine a thought or habit being a tiny stream of water. Keep in mind water takes the path of least resistance. If that stream follows the same path then over time erosion occurs and we can create chasms such as the Grand Canyon. But if the path is modified then we prevent chasms.

While the mind is a glorious machine it is unique in many ways to each individual. Therefore each sentient being seeks control over oneself and a certain level of autonomy. This sense of control or lack thereof is a personal journey. Acceptance of that which we can not control and responsibility for that which we can is an oft time arduous trek.

We have very little control in life. We cannot control the weather, the outcome of our favorite sporting events, the traffic, the cost of living , the way others act/ react/ feel. We can control our reaction and how we adapt to certain scenarios. Personally I find how I react affects how others react. As an example yesterday a student got frustrated during Math, granted that's not shocking news. He walked away from the table. Now I have options on how to react. I could ignore him and see what he does. I could demand he return to the table and complete his work or loss points an get negative consequences. I could talk to the you g lad and listen to what is frustrating him. Yep I went with plan C . He was frustrated , he expressed his concern while playing with a ball. Again I have choices to ignore the ball, demand he stop or once again option C. I asked him to sit on the floor and we rolled the ball back and forth while orally doing the Math problems. Crisis averted, student felt validated and heard, and student learned. All parties achieve their goal with out incident but with adaptability.

I'm not perfect , far from it. I have learned that every sentient being deserves to be free o suffering and to find happiness.. Every person is a unique individual seeking validation and a sense of control. It's hard for the wee ones to express to this. We have to listen to everything they say and do. We have to help them establish their personal locust of control. One thing these starter humans seek is knowing they have a strong, consistent , loving leader. They want to sense control but want and need to know the grown folk at the helm are the captains of the ship.

Ok so now back to the land of pleasant living. It's May Day!!! This day has always been a day jubilant and special. Last night junior mint reminded me of when he was in pre-K he made a very special May Day wreath out willow branches and pansies for his teacher. He said he missed her and his K teacher. The last teachers he felt believed in him. So today we celebrate new beginnings. We celebrate May Day!!