Cherie's Random Thoughts

As I reflect on the upcoming changes in my life and work I am reminder the importance of embracing change. Change by its definition is according to Google is to make or become different. Every changing of the guard, changing in our health, and general changes in our life are opportunities to do something different. Move outside the norm and into the unknown. When resist change, we are most likely living in fear. Doing so limits our mindset and our ability to be a part of the change and often we become a part of the problem. Let's break it down by each letter to see the comparisons.  If we embrace change we experience: Creativity Hope Acceptance  Nurture Growth  Evolution  If we fear change we experience or become: Chaos  Hurt Apathy Negative  Group think Energy depleting Now the questions is do we want to go down the road that has always been or do want to go down the road that has never been. I choose the nev...

Today I was reminded of the ugly side of most people's personalities including my own: Our ability to continue to be skeptical of the new. The new can be new people to the group, new changes on the horizon, or anything that moves out of comfort zone. Often our ugly side surfaces when we are fearing change or when change is on our door step. It causes us to judge on a few interactions or experiences or even worse the word or experiences of another.  I hate this SIDE of my personality and I must resist succumbing to it. No more huddles. My head hurt for a good portion of the evening because of my participation in the "huddle." I am disgusted with this and I need to say NO MORE. I know better and should have spoken up to say-"I see it differently."  I will be 42 and need to engage in interactions that uplift, move forward, and make real change happen in my life and the lives of those that affect.  So on this day, I pledge to work real hard at not engag...

As Mother's Day approaches, I am always very reflective of the time I spent with my mother before her death on November 3, 2007. This year I have chosen to write about all the things I could not share with her that occurred during the past 8 years following her death. So here we go:  2008-Year 1: I purchased my first brand new car, a 2009 Toyota Corolla. A sweet ride that I suspect if you were here I would have given you many rides in it! I also walked in my Masters Graduation. See I promised I would.  2009-Year 2: Found Dad near death, he was diagnosised with Parkinson's and had to go into a nursing home. I suspect if you were still here we would be roomates.  2010-Year 3: The year I decided to make huge change in my career. I suspect that you would have encouraged me to do so!!!  2011-Year 4: I became a college professor and began my PhD program. Of course, I suspect you would have been my biggest cheerleader!!!!  2012-Year 5: Cool sailing. First time in longt...

I recently bought and read Rae Pica's latest book entitled, "What If Everybody Understood Child Development?" This is a question I have ponder since I took my child development course at Kutztown University in the early 90's. Rae Pica does a fabulous job of exploring several topics that often make people take sides on an issue. In her book, she connects each chapter to child development and helps the reader understand why an understanding of child development for EVERYONE is important. Some of my favorite chapters include:  Bubble Wrapping Not Required  Doing Away With the "Baby Stuff"  Terrorist Tots?  Failure is an Option  and  Bribes and Threats Work, But.... Throughout the book, Pica reminds us what happens when we do not have an understanding of child development. In addition, she provides the reader with some memorable information that should be shared with all who do not believe in keeping children, children! Such as when she reminds us that "chi...

In an article entitled, "Leaving Our Legacies Mindfully", the author discusses how we should think about what our legacy will be and do so mindfully. In a culture filled with selfies, I often wonder how many of us actually care about what our imprint on the world will be when we take our last breathe.  Three things resonate with me from the article: Passion, caring, and living authentically.  When we are passionate about something, we are invested and willing to go beyond the call of duty. Feelings behind our passion are often our reward for the work that we do.  When we care about others, we say to them that their lives matters. One thing that has taken a back sheet to our selfie culture is our ability to truly care about others. This can be how we treat each other on a daily basis and most definitely how we step up in a person's time of need. From caring, grows empathy, grows compassion, and ultimately leads to real change in our lives and the lives of those we come in ...

Often we allow ourselves to get hijacked by fear. Here is how that fear feels and looks like in words and pictures:  https://www.haikudeck.com/p/UzjfWv70OM/hijacked-

This evening I learned something that helped me put things into perspective and reminded me to continue to see the "bigger picture." Often in life we view life through the four corners of a box. Some boxes are small and others are big.  The walls of the box allow us to only see two things: Our current situation or the past that trapped us there in the first place. They prevent us from seeing the future that is yet to arrive and may or may not be altered by our present situation. We can speculate what the future will be, but we truly will not know until it arrives.   Also for each trouble, problems and/or situations we precieve to be a pressing problem, there is always another that will trump it. Or even worse we forget problems are truly situtations in the end. Situations that can resolved.  The question is do we want to re-live these situations like a "Ground Hog Day"- one in which you resolve, only to have to resolve the situation with the same solution over and o...