★New Happiness Mtg 1/20/16★

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  This weeks topic for discussion is : Being A Winner

I’m a big football fan and I have several favorite teams. Sometimes they play against each other and I am torn about which team I want to win. Unfortunately, there is always a winner and loser. It’s a game. In life, I think it would far more beneficial if we thought about only winners. And why not? I’m sure you’ve heard the expression, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” Living is not a game. It is very real. I want to win in the game of life and I want everyone else to win too. I believe it’s how you play the game that makes all the difference in being a winner.

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  1. In playing the game of life, do you think there could be only winners?

2. What makes you a winner?

3. Do you think you are a winner or loser in life?

4. What specific steps do you take everyday to make others winners in life?

5. Can you give an example of how you’ve helped someone win in the game of life? And describe how you won also.

Quotes

Your life is perfect as it is, if you live it with your heart wide open _{Marianne Williamson}

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  _{“To laugh often and love much… to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to give one’s self… this is to have succeeded.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson}

2. What makes me a winner?

When I think back on what I have done with my life, I can honestly say I am a winner. Not because of all that I have accomplished but because of the impact I’ve had on the lives of others. As a former educator, I have always taught a hidden curriculum. That being helping young children develop a strong, healthy self-esteem. I learned very early on that my students that scored the highest grades were the ones that felt good about themselves. They were happy and eager to learn. And conversely, my students that did poorly, thought poorly about themselves.

When I left the classroom and moved into administration, I found the same thing. My best teachers were the ones that had high self -esteems. They felt good about their lives. Things were smooth and at ease in their personal lives. Teachers that had some struggle in their lives were not my superstars.

For my strugglers, I would devote an inordinate amount of time and energy in trying to boost their self-esteem. The ones that felt good about their situations, I knew they would be okay. They needed less of my attention.

Self-esteem may not quite describe what I’m trying to convey, but I hope you can see that for me being a winner was not what I did for myself, but what I did for others that were struggling. My accomplishments, degrees, awards, certificates were all by products of helping one one person at a time feel better about themselves. We simply do better when we feel better!

love everything you said… These beliefs, intentions, actions of yours are what truly defines success. So love this, and looking forward to these thought/heart provoking questions(:

And may I say again… (because you know I will) (: Happy Birthday Poppy …and thank you for sharing your loving energy on this site!(:

In response to Poppy’s post:
Poppy, I like how you describe yourself as a winner because of the impact you’ve had on the lives of others.
In response to Robert’s post:
Very interesting additional and wonderful thought!!

In response to Poppy’s post:
3. Do you think you are a winner or loser in life?

I like the winning-feeling… Though to me, it doesn’t mean others have lost because I do my absolute best not to compare myself with others… In essence the ‘competition’ and the ruler is more or less with myself.

5. Can you give an example of how you’ve helped someone win in the game of life? And describe how you won also

Many young students are not motivated to memorize their addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. I helped develop and expand on a school wide program to motivate students to commit to memorizing these facts. We took the model of the Texas Drivers License, inserted the students picture into the template , laminated it and gave it to students who had mastered their facts on a mixed 100 problem fact test timed to specific grade levels. To earn their Texas Mathematics License, each student had to master 95% or higher on each fact test, culminating on the mixed practice test. Students were recognized on weekly announcements and individual progress was charted by home room teachers. All students in each grade level showed improvement in their math computation and almost all met grade level expectations in math. This challenging and fun math achievement led students to accomplish tasks they never thought they could accomplish. As an added bonus, I would call each student to the office where I would call the parent at work and tell them of their child’s accomplishment and have them congratulate their son or daughter. It was very fun for me to telephone parents with good news. I would start each conversation with something like this:Hello Mr. or Mrs. ________. This is Mr. _______, assistant principal at _____Elementary school. I am sorry to bother you at work, but I know you would want to know that_____just earned his/her Texas Mathematics License. Then I would put the student on the phone with the parent. Of course most of the parents were initially horrified that the school was calling about their child, but we’re so relieved and proud once they realized I was calling about a good thing that they were ecstatic. It was a very rewarding experience for us all.

I haven’t yet read the other postings,a few thoughts on the topic
winning or losing.
my off the cuff definition of winning is,
If a person does there best,in life or in a sporting event,that is what
winning is.Doing your best usually produces a desired result.
Years ago I use to watch football,baseball and basketball.
I remember pondering this thought on occasion,
regardless of who won the game according to the final score,the team that
seem to “lose” the game,were necessary for there to be a game at all.
So by virtue of giving there best effort,even the team that was defined
as the team that “lost“could be considered winners as well.
Life is sort of like that,I heard someone say once “rather than saying I
failed or was successful at anything,you could say I gave my best effort and produced a result”

In response to Lake Placid’s post:

When you give your best effort, everything you’ve got, then you are a success, just like Just For Me said above. I have read several versions of a famous quote by Thomas Edison. This is my favorite. It is in reference to his discovery of the light bulb.

“I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”

In response to Lake Placid’s post:
In response to Poppy’s post:
When I think of a game I like to play… that I truly enjoy -winning isn’t the first thing that surfaces.

Though winning in that game…just like in life…generally means/meant … (as mentioned) expresses…we all did our best…and we learn from one another…and its simply exciting to be in it for the absolute excitement, and process of it all. In the fun game I’m thinking of…winning at it …isn’t bad either… though it generally includes the spirit of utilizing what is truly possible …for all involved… and everyone walks away …shaking hands feeling they have received.

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  will be back another day to respond to focus questions (:

Life

Life is NOT a game
There are no winners or losers
Only participants

Keeping a positive mindset
Or not
Is a vital question?

Being fixated on the positive
In the face of adversity

Opportunities amongst failures
Seeking improvement

Genuine happiness is optimism
An internal process
Not external factors

Finding beauty in imperfection
Happiness in despair
Creative problem solving
Seeing light in darkness

Positive thinking
Key to enlightenment

Life is a gift
Life is a choice
There are no winners or losers!