People make “New Year Resolutions” as a desire to have a better year and improve their world. A good resolution is one that is kept until it becomes part of a person’s nature. This starts by searching our hearts and minds to determine our strengths and weaknesses; and builds on those strengths to improve our weaknesses. Most resolutions involve losing 10 pounds or increasing personal fitness levels or saving more for the future. Yes, I realize that like most people, I need to lose weight, increase my personal fitness and improve my “rainy day savings” but after searching my heart and mind, I am making the following resolutions for 2009:

     1. I will start every day with an open mind, an open heart, and a smile.

     2. I will make everyday an adventure and every job fun.

     3. I will treat every person with respect, respect every one’s opinion and send people that I come in contact with home full of pride and self-respect.

     4. I will give others a place to safely express themselves and a chance to think outside the box.

     5. I will reward effort as well as the end results.

     6. I will end the day, knowing I can change the world – by helping one person to grow personally every day and then do it!

          Looking at my list of resolutions, I find that I have set high expectations for improving my daily outlook and my daily goals. But I believe it won’t be easy but it can be done. There will be days that I won’t necessarily feel “good” and those are the days that I will make a concentrated effort to begin the day with an open heart, mind and put a smile on my face. This concentrate effort will improve not only my day but the people that I come in contact with. We should remember: smiling is contagious, causes fewer wrinkles, and takes fewer muscles than a scowl or frown.

          Make everyday an adventure and every job fun is important to me. I know if I feel my job isn’t fun and full of adventure, then I will not do my best. Everyday is an adventure for me – I never know what is going to happen, what I will discover or what I can do to help someone. This makes my job fun.

          Treating each person with respect and respect everyone’s opinion will be hard on some days. It is easy to fall into the trap of treating others exactly the same way they treat us. But instead of the “eye for an eye” philosophy, we should treat everyone the way we want to be treated; by respecting everyone and their opinion, I believe that everyone will respect me and my opinion. If more people remember to use the “Golden Rule”, it will improve our schools, spreading to our community, and spreading to encompass a larger portion of our world.

          Humans need to feel safe. I resolve to help students, parents, staff members to feel safe and be able to freely express their opinions and concerns without fear of negative consequences. Open, honest, and non-threatening communication between people is necessary for us to feel safe and allow us to grow personally and professionally. I also resolve to think more outside the box and encourage those that I come into contact with to do so also. One of my favorite definitions of insanity is to “continue to do what you have always done and expect a different outcome”. By thinking outside of the box and encouraging others to try something new and different in a safe environment, we will see an increase in both teacher and student motivation and achievement. This is one of my top priorities.

          As I grow older and hopefully wiser, I have come to realize that if we reward effort as well as the end results is very important. Even though not everyone achieves 100% on the National Latin Test, everyone can learn something. If we reward and celebrate learning – not just the results of a test or a grading period, then I believe that more learning will occur. Parents and teachers should remember that our little ones did not learn to run before they learned to roll from their stomach to their backs. If we celebrate the “baby steps” of learning, perhaps more will be in the final “Olympic” race for graduation (and maybe for the position of Valedictorian).

          As I re-read my thoughts on these resolutions for 2009, I stop and think about a world where others make the same resolutions. I imagine how the world would change one person at a time as they come into contact with the people who resolved to improve their own attitude and outlook on life.  Imagine how you would feel about your child and his/her learning, if they were in a classroom where the teacher follows these six resolutions. Imagine how you would feel, if your employer followed these six simple but not so simple resolutions. I believe that my world would become fuller, happier and more heavenly if more people made these same six resolutions.