Cherie's Random Thoughts

What is money really was not issue? Would you be happier? Would life be easier? Would you pursue your true purpose?  The answer to this question is: YES.  If you are fortunate and wise you have long since learn that money does not buy you happiness. There are many wealthy and comfortable people living a life that is a lie. A life that does not reflect their true self. A life that denies them true happiness and makes them simply do things because others do and want them to.  As I have gotten older I have learned that it really doe not matter how much money is in my bank account (although it does sometimes makes things easier), what matters is that I am doing what I was born to do and doing with passion: TEACHING.  Here is a great video by Alan Watts: What If Money Didn't Matter?  http://youtu.be/xaLDRSg6vic

Alicia Key's Brand New Me is my new anthem for life. As I take time to reflect my journey over the past 39 1/2 years I realize that I have gone through and overcome many challenges. I am thankful for all the wonderful adult role models, great parents, and friends who helped me during my journey to a "Brand New Me".  Without them I could never have done the following:  Commit my life works (passion) to something worth doing and will impact many: teaching and help others achieve their goals. The courage to speak up when I disagree with people, yet still respect and love them as human being.  To remain drug free.  Survived school- High School, BA, M.Ed. and PhD-coursework all while having to deal with very challenging circumstances (mother's illnesses and death, my father's Parkinson, challenging bosses, and one step from being truly homeless).  The ability to take ownership for the choices I make about how I live my life and own them. Excuses not allowed. 

Tonight I listen to Michael Hyatt's podcast: The Importance of the Leader's Heart and as I listen to it I realized how profound it was. Often as leaders we forget how important our heart is and how we need to protect it. Between 2006-2010 tremendous strain was placed on my heart. I found myself progressively going through cycles of burnout and losing my love for work. I learned three things during this period:  1) My heart is stronger than I thought but it is not invincible. Although during a 5 year period I experience changes in my work, starting and completing a masters degree, dealing with a mother's illnesses, three deaths in 45 day period (boss, friend's mother, and my mother in 2007) I some how survived but had several warning signs that I had to change my outlook on life. During this period, I experienced frequently eye ticks, increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and irritability.  2) If my heart is unhealthy my ability to help others is diminish

By far ONE of the best things I have ever listen to and watched. Reminds me of how important gratitude is and how the power of an open heart can heal almost any ailment or negative attitude we may have. For many the holiday season is tough one but watching this video would most definitely bring joy to your heart. It will  remind you have the opportunity to be blessed and bless others simply by being grateful!

In article by Marc and Angel entitled: 25 Things I would Tell My 20-Year-Old-Self, the authors provide 25 things that most of us wish we knew when we were 20.  As I approach my 40th birthday, I find myself thinking more about what has occurred during the past 20 years of my life. Between 20-40 most adults have to deal with a tremendous amount of change that can impact their mid-life years, positively and negatively. If I could go back in future and talk with my 20-year-old self, I would share the following five thoughts from the article:  Stand up for yourself. Life is full of BULLIES. They can a friend, a family member, or someone in the workplace. Over the past 39 years, I have learned that we must become assertive and this is not negotiable. Otherwise you will be walked over for most of your life.  If you can make a reasonable living doing what you love, DO WHAT YOU LOVE. Never work a job you cannot find joy in doing! Over the past 19 years working as adult I have always tr

If you continue to look back at your past and use it as an excuse for your present, you have doomed your future. The future is unwritten can be changed but when we become hung up on the storm that preceded up, we cannot see the rainbow that lies head of us. -Cherie Crosby Today was one of the days when you think: Why would we let our past affect our future? It something I have tried not to do for most of my life. Although our past does influence our present, we have to power to change our future. It is critical that we be forward thinking, dialogue thinking, and not allow ourselves to begin our conversations with an excuse. An excuse only purpose is to prevent us from achieving greatness. When we buy into and extend an excuses lifespan, we allow our future to become a little dimmer. 

In an article by Marc and Angel's Hack Life, 30 Simple Ways to Simplify Your life, the author describe 30 sure fire ways you can simplify your life. They provide a short and long list.  From the short list, I find the following essential to simplifying your life:  Identify what’s most important to you . -A must do. How can a person expect simplification in their life if they have no idea what they can live with and without. Often when we start creating this list, if we are honest with ourselves we usually will create a very short list!  From the long list, I find the follow essential to simplifying your life:  Resign from a commitment you’re not passionate about. -Something I have tried to live by for the past 10 years of my life and have found that is something that we should commit to doing. Otherwise, we lead a life of potential misery and will end up chasing a dream but never living it!  Enjoy  life’s simple pleasures .- Definitely self explanatory. Why would you no

What to be a human being who ROCK? One who seems to persevere through life's most difficult challenges, adopt the 9 habits of super positive people. In a Marc and Angel Hack Life article the authors provide readers with insight on the impact of our perspectives on things and how they impact our life.  In the article the author list 9 key habits to develop. Here is a list of them and my thoughts on them and how they help you live a fulfilled life:  Wake up every morning with the idea that something wonderful is possible today.   Each morning I begin my day thinking that anything is possible. I do this by sending a good portion of my morning to reflect on my goals and read inspirational blogs and emails to start my day off on a positive foot! Never wake up dreading what is to come!    Celebrate your existence.   Definitely a must. Each of us are placed on this planet to do something powerful. If we did not exist our impact could not be felt and someone or something would not b

Worth Sharing! One of my students created this beautiful example of the power of technology (I asked if I could share) and how she uses her I-Pad to take notes in class. After observing her take notes, I asked her if she had ever considered creating a blog/website to describe her journey and share her technique notes. This is what you came up with and it is PURE GENIUS!! Play close attention to the Notebook section, this is where she shows samples of her notes. It is a beautiful example of journaling, note taking the use of graphics, music, and quotes to inspire.  Here is the link:  http://pluma13.wix.com/auroras-notebook#! Be inspired and inspire others. It only takes a few words to inspire PURE GENIUS! 

Below is a list originally posted on Positively Positive-7 Lessons Learned from a 7 year old  (My thoughts are in Red):  1. Skip. Just Because.  When was the last time you broke into a skip? Probably not for a long time, huh? It’s fun. Trust me. Moral of the story: We should never forget the things that bring us joy and should seek to do them often.  2. Don’t Believe Everything You Hear. When tales of fifteen-year-old teachers ruled a car ride one day,  I was reminded of the adage “there are three sides to every story: yours, theirs, and the truth.”  The fact is that seven year olds are no less dishonest than their adult counterparts. My niece wasn’t lying; it was just that her frame of reference made fifteen the oldest possible age she could imagine for someone who didn’t look a hundred, and so that was the age she figured her teacher to be. Seven year olds just have a different frame of reference than their adult counterparts so that  their  truth is sometimes diffe

This by far the CUTEST photograph I have seen! Such an expressive face. Reminds us all how the animal kingdom is not that much different than us. 

Hearing this version of John Lennon's Imagine reminds me of something that we are still search for: A world were everyone cares for one another. The US election of 2012 is making me question if this is even possible? Have we lost sight of what matters most: BASIC HUMAN NEEDS. Are we so concerned whether or not we will have low gas prices or be able to buy things we DO NOT need, that we would crush the spirit of another human being to get it? I hope that when the election is over that we finally learn the lesson we often fail to learn: Money and prosperity does not solve all problems. The development of positive relationships and living within your means does.   And this version by Eva Cassidy truly depicts why Lennon's message is one we should never forget! 

http://www.tecca.com/columns/school-cell-phones/ Laura Selby in an article on tecca.com said the following "With great tech innovations come messy real-life dilemmas. Should police officers  tweet info about emergency calls , as the Seattle Police department did for a day? Do you find the idea of adding your  unborn child to your Facebook profile  sweet or unsettling? The debate on what place cell phones should have in schools is no less complex. While some school districts have embraced mobile phone technology, others are  struggling to manage the distractions  and challenges cell phones bring to the classroom. So what, exactly, are the arguments behind both sides of the debate?"  This is a very interesting debt across K-12 and higher education settings. Use of cell phones is EVERYWHERE and it becoming increasingly difficult to get students to refrain from using them while in the classroom. In general, the general population no longer follows cell phone etiquette a

www.scholastic.com/readeveryday/pdfs/RBORR_FNL.pdf Scholastic recently published a Reading Bill of Rights-A Child's Right to Read. Within the bill there are 8 powerful  We Believe  statements of what we must do to ensure that every child learns how to read. It is tragic that we continue to graduate students in this country who do not have basic reading proficiency.  Not being able to read impacts a person's life greatly and hamper their chances of reaching their full potential.  I am thankful I came from a home that valued reading. I am thankful that I went to school that introduce me to text beyond my interests. I am thankful for having access to great libraries and books stores, as well as the huge e-book library found of the web.  We need to move to world where people spend more time reading books (whether visually and/or auditory) and taking time to discuss great literature.  The best way to educate is reading and we we fail to ensure that all people have access to hi

In the following blog post,  10 Things I Dare You To Do Today , the authors offer up 10 things that people should do. Five of the ten I feel should be done every day! They are: Make someone else smile.  – Ordinary people worry today and postpone their happiness for tomorrow.  Intelligent people are happy today and postpone their worries for tomorrow.  Wise people only wish happiness for all, today and tomorrow.  If you wish to have a lifetime of happiness, dedicate time every day to helping others smile with complete sincerity and enthusiasm. Cherie's reason to do it daily: It relieves stress for both the smiler and the receiver.  Be enthusiastic about what you’re doing.  – You’re not given a good life or a bad life.  You’re given life, and it’s up to you to make it good or bad.  So wake up and get motivated; not everybody made it to today.  Don’t take your time for granted.  Don’t waste time thinking back to what you could have done differently yesterday.  Keep your eyes on th

Tonight I discovered a documentary that EVERY HUMAN being needs to see, called "The Line". http://thelinemovie.com/ Watching this film reminded me of when my family lived on the line. A time when my father when from 80K to 0 in seconds. A time where my family had do move the Pike Hotel-a one room hotel room during part of my high school and/college years. A time when my family shopped for food at THE PANTRY. A time when my family lost all of our furniture and most of our family photos because we could no longer pay for the storage unit. A time where we wonder how long was this going last. Even today my family members, friends, and myself have done the dance along THE LINE. Some of us are there now, some have moved a little beyond the line, and some have one foot one foot on and one foot off. Poverty is this country is an epidemic and we must not ignore this and remember that we all can be the person who is living on that LINE. Poverty shortens a life and everyone des

9 Rules for Turning Endings into New Beginnings Below are nine rules for improving your life found in the article above. In read you will find my perspective in red.  Let the things you can’t control, GO.  – Most things are only a part of your life because you keep thinking about them.  Positive things happen in your life when you emotionally distance yourself from the negative things.  So stop holding on to what hurts, and make room for what feels right.  Do not let what is out of your control interfere with all the things you can control.   Read  The Success Principles . Cherie's perspective:  When we fail to learn this rule we limit our future success. We allow ourselves to become trapped in a vicious cycle of negativity and pain.  Accept and embrace reality.  – Life is simple.  Everything happens for you, not to you.  Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late.  For everything you lose, you gain something else; and for everything you ga