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Balanced Life Skills Supports Teens in County Foster Care

For the past 5 weeks Balanced Life Skills has been seeking the support and help of local businesses and individuals in our efforts to support teens from Anne Arundel County who find themselves in foster care. There are over 100 teens in foster care who in our opinion deserve to have a nice Christmas this year. Over the last couple of years we have been able to give them a gift card or two for them to take to the store and find something that they would like to have.

This year has been a bit more difficult and we are appealing to all in our area to help us in this final week to provide a small gift card to each of these teens. I have attached a letter and form for making a contribution either by cash or gift card for this very worthy endeavor. Foster Teens request

Thank you for your assistance and please share this request with others.  A small donation by many will be the way we make a difference in the lives of these young boys and girls.

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Bully Prevention: 3 Steps for Assertive Response

Day 16 in our series talks about the 3 ways we show assertiveness.  This whole series is found on Bully Prevention Partners.  We would like for those interested in creating a culture of peace in our schools and community to join us there as we spread the awareness of bully prevention.

 

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Thoughtful Ways of Showing Gratitude

What are we thankful for?  Out of everyone’s mouth come the ‘standard’ answers of health, family and friends.  Sometimes we think even deeper and we will talk about those who have done something for us, we may talk about a teacher or mentor, or we may have an extraordinary experience that has fundamentally changed who we are.  Have you had one of those experiences, where you see or have an experience that makes you think differently?  Maybe you or someone you love came close to death, or your touched by a story you hear or see that calls you to a different action than your normal activity.

This morning I received an email from an individual whom I have studied his work for a short time, Gary Ryan Blair.  He suggest that we practice gratitude.  Now that by itself is not a new thought, as I have mentioned previously, starting each day off with the question, What am I grateful for? is a great way to start your day on a positive note.  But Mr. Blair suggest these ways of practicing gratitude and giving thanks for being alive is:

Accept 100% responsibility for your life Behave like a gentleman and lady, Commit your life to excellence, Deliver exceptional results, Exceed expectations, Focus on solutions, Gracefully age, Honor your commitments, Inspire through your actions, Joyfully embrace each day, Keep your promises, Leave a lasting legacy, Model best practices, Necessitate high, uniform, ethical standards, Open your mind to new ideas, Passionately pursue your dreams, Quickly solve problems, Reciprocate and pay it forward, Showcase your talents, Talk lovingly, Undertake challenging tasks, Vote and defend democracy, Welcome and embrace change, Zealously do what is right, good and noble.

As you look at these suggestions think of gratitude as an action item and not a passive statement.  If you are not sure, check out those that have less than, and who seem to find a way to make a difference and to use what they have to benefit others.  Then Practice Gratefulness.

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Life Skills: Generosity Includes Giving Thanks

Teaching character and life skills to students
Generosity simply could not be discussed without discussing the simple words of gratitude, “thank you”.  There is an expectation that when generosity is shown that the recipient of the generous act will demonstrate their gratefulness with a “thank you”.   From the other side though if we are not to be seen as someone who takes things for granted, we should be ‘generous’ with giving thanks to others for their generous acts.

Who could you thank right now for helping you?  It may not be giving you a gift of ‘treasure’, it may be the gift of ‘time’, of listening to you about your day.  It may be the gift of food at dinner prepared with loving care.   Sometimes when an act of kindness is repeated everyday over and over again, we can get used to and even begin to expect that it will be their for us everyday.  I often think about what it would be like to get home from a day of teaching at 8:30 or 9 PM as I often do, and not have a meal ready for me to eat.  What about you?  Do you have some act that is done for you every day or every week that you have grown to expect?  If so, take the time to think about how grateful you are that someone in your life is so kind and thoughtful and then say “thank you”.  Let’s be generous with our thanks to all those who touch our lives.  Make others feel special and valuable for all they do for us.  Share your generosity of treasures, time and talent with thankfulness.

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Life Skills: Generosity – Make a Life By “What We Give”

Teaching character and life skills to students

Winston Churchill is quoted as saying that “we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”   Most people are very aware of the needs that many have in the world we live in and that need seems to be increasing on a daily basis.  Certainly even in the past couple of years we have seen a dramatic increase of individuals and families who are living at or below the poverty level.  Unemployment and difficult times have struck so many that have never experienced those difficulties previously.

But if “we make a life by what we give”, we can ask ourselves if giving generously is something that we are in the habit of doing, or just on occaision.  How have you made “time donations” in your community?  There are so many ways to affect the lives of others, even when we do not have a lot of “treasures” to give.  What are the most fulfilling ways that you have found to do that?

Do you enjoy working on feeding the hungry locally or internationally?  Is your interest in mentoring disadvantaged students or do you enjoy working with students with special needs?  Are your interest around the environment or with protection of animals in the world?  Whatever your focus, interest or love, giving of our time is satisfying to our own soul and helps others.  In regard to our children, when they learn the joys of doing for others they are also learning about gratitude for all they have been provided with, they learn how to be generous without asking anything in return.  As the adults in their lives we have the privilege of teaching them these lessons by our word and example.