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Discipline: Definition

October word of the month at Balanced Life Skills is Discipline.  Discipline can be about following the rules of others and society, and at the same time being able to think for ourselves and follow the rules we set for ourselves.   This month we will explore this even more, to find ways and reasons that we can show good discipline and use self-discipinet to make good decisions.   Our students will learn the role that discipline plays in creating a succesful life.

 

Young students:

Discipline means: I can control my body and mind to do what’s right, safe and kind!

Older students:

Discipline means making yourself do what’s righ, fair and necessary even when you don’t feel like it.

There will be more discussions on this site of this word to help everyone discuss it with their own children and to look at it more deeply with themselves in the coming month. Check back with us or you may join our community for even more information.

 

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Animal Safety Program

I am pleased to announce that due to the efforts of one of our parents in the school, we will be presenting a program opened to the public about safety with animals.  We are privleged to have Candi Nilsson who works for the Anne Arundel Animal Control Office as an educator in their Humane Education Program.  The program’s focus is to teach “basic animal safety and care” to children.  Event date is October 24th at 10:30 AM at the Balanced Life Skills Studio.

She will be accompanied by pet and program “ambassador,” Benny the Frog.  Benny is a French bulldog who likes to sit on a table so he can see everyone. (this is not Benny, but aren’t bull dogs cute?)

Everyone is invited to come and bring a guest.  The last time we had animals with us in the studio was with the SPCA.  At that time we contributed to them a very large amount of supplies and food that they needed for their pets.  I will keep everyone informed as we speak to Ms. Nilsson if there is anything we can do to support their work.  Share this with all of your friends and neighbors.

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Courage for a cause

I was searching for some stories about courage when I came on this TED talk and was just amazed at the courage Lewis Pugh showed not for selfish reasons but rather to bring awareness to the world about environmental changes that will and are effecting everyone on the earth. Lewis Pugh’s unselfish courage ranks with Julia Butterfly Hill and others who have taken action on matters that called to them.  As you watch this be inspired to speak up and do something about things that speak to you.

 

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Vancouver Peace Summit

Watch Karen Armstrong live from the Vancouver Peace Summit

Sunday, September 27 1:00-3:30 PDT


TED Prize winner Karen Armstrong joins four Nobel Peace laureates, including the Dalai Lama, Jody Williams, Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams, moderated by Mary Robinson, at the Dalai Lama Center’s Vancouver Peace Summit to introduce the story of the Charter for Compassion and discuss their experience of compassion in their own lives – and their perspectives on our human responsibilities right now.


The TED Prize is presented to three individuals each year to support an idea that can change the world. In 2008, Karen Armstrong, author and religious historian, received the Prize, and was asked to make one wish. Her wish was for TED’s assistance in the creation, launch, and propagation of a Charter for Compassion. The writing began in November 2008 through a global website which allowed people everywhere to submit their ideas to the Charter. Then the Council of Conscience, made up of religious scholars and thinkers from six religions, sorted through these words to craft the final version of the Charter, which will be unveiled to the world in a spectacular way on November 12, 2009.


On September 27, coinciding with the Nobel laureates in dialogue, a new version of CharterforCompassion.org will launch, inviting the world to participate in the November 12 launch of the Charter.

More information on this page.  I will be there and I would love to hear from others who have watched this event.

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Courage: making good choices

When we are faced with choices how can we be sure that we are going to make good choices, using our courage to do so.  All of us have faced choices where we became really nervous and I would dare say that all of us have made bad choices from time to time due to peer pressure or fears of some kind.  For us to make good choices though there are some simple things that we can do in that moment.

 

 

  1. Slow down.  Do not make a decision so fast that we don’t have time to clear our head and feel confident in our decision .
  2. Take some deep breaths.  Even in the most stressful situations we need to take this time to breath deeply.  This allows oxygen to get to our brain and for us to think more clearly.
  3. Talk to a trusted friend.  Who is it that you can trust to give you not just good advice but encouragement to do the correct thing based on your values.
  4. Use visioning or imaging.  Imagine in your mind the results and consequences if you choose to do one thing or the other.  See the results and check in to see how you feel about those results. If you are dealing with a fear instead of seeing yourself failing, imagine yourself completing your task successfully and imagine how you will feel when it is complete.  Using imagining can calm you down when you use it on a consistent basis.

Finally our courage can also be used to NOT do something that we know is not safe or fair.  When our conscious or ‘gut’ tells us to stop, if we are worried what our parents, mates or friends would think if they knew we were making choice to do something, it may be time to reexamine and be sure that it meets the values and ethics that are a deep part of ourselves.

Use the same steps from above to make the examination and be sure that we are making courageous decisions based on our internal influences and not the immediate external influences.  Maya Angelou voiced it well when she said; “One isn’t necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can’t be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”